Press & Media: Track record of online harm
A timeline of failures by the technology industry to protect its users
To understand the priorities of a company, look to their actions, not their words.
In keeping with this principle, C3P has committed to maintaining an ongoing compilation of public reports (e.g., media articles, news releases, research reports and summaries, blog posts etc.) documenting the failures and anti-social behaviours exhibited by technology companies, including social media platforms.
Collectively, these reports shed light on the devastating consequences of technology companies failing to prioritize the safety of their users, especially for vulnerable groups such as children. The contents of this timeline reinforces the urgent need for strong government regulation in digital spaces. *
Last update: 2024-04-18
Platform Referenced
* Other: 12% YouTube, 19% AI, 9% Omegle, 7% Reddit, 6% Amazon, 7% Discord, 7% Twitch, 6% Microsoft, 4% Roblox, 1% 4Chan, 1% Bing, 1% Cash App, 1% DeliverFund, 1% Epic Games, 3% Kik, 1% Pinterest, 1% recontre-ados.com, 1% Skype, 1% Soundcloud, 1% Telegram, 3% VR, 1% Yubo, 1% Zoom, 1% Wizz, 1% Scribd
† 38% of Meta cases are Facebook, 32% are Instagram, 6% are WhatsApp
Subject Matter
*Other includes encryption, non-consensual distribution of intimate images, sextortion
Sextortion Scams Are Driving Teen Boys to Suicide
Source: Bloomberg
Teen Girls Confront an Epidemic of Deepfake Nudes in Schools
Source: The New York Times
Leading adviser quits over Instagram’s failure to remove self-harm content
Source: The Guardian
Violent online content 'unavoidable' for UK children, Ofcom finds
Source: The Guardian
How Facebook Messenger and Meta Pay are used to buy child sexual abuse material
Source: The Guardian
A Marketplace of Girl Influencers Managed by Moms and Stalked by Men
Source: The New York Times
No Laws Protect People From Deepfake Porn. These Victims Fought Back
Source: Bloomberg
Attacks in the metaverse are booming. Police are starting to pay attention.
Source: The Washington Post
Social media algorithms ‘amplifying misogynistic content’
Source: The Guardian
20 Years of Facebook: A Danger to Society
Source: The Tech Oversight Project
Source: Network Contagion Research Institute
Child Endangerment in "Los Picus" Fan Groups: Facebook (Still) Has a Child Predation Problem
Source: Tech Policy Press
Court documents underscore Meta`s 'historical reluctance' to protect children on Instagram
Source: The Associated Press
Social media apps made $11 billion from children and teens in 2022
Source: CBS News
TikTok allowing under-13s to keep accounts, evidence suggests
Source: The Guardian
My 13-year-old daughter downloaded TikTok and six months later she was dead
Source: The Independent
Meta Is Struggling to Boot Pedophiles Off Facebook and Instagram
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Instagram's Algorithm Delivers Toxic Video Mix to Adults Who Follow Children
Source: The Wall Street Journal
At Meta, Millions of Underage Users Were an 'Open Secret,' States Say
Source: The New York Times
Omegle: 'How I got the dangerous chat site closed down'
Source: BBC News
Fake Nudes of Real Students Cause an Uproar at a New Jersey High School
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Source: The Wall Street Journal
X Fumble First Big Musk-Era Test of Content Policies After Israel Attack
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Frances Haugen blew the whistle on Facebook two years ago. This is what happened next.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
4Chan Uses Bing to Flood the Internet With Racist Images
Source: 404 Media
Inside Apple's Impossible War on Child Exploitation
Source: Forbes
Paedophiles claim it's 'stupidly easy' to abuse children using virtual reality
Source: The Telegraph
Inside the AI Porn Marketplace Where Everything and Everyone Is for Sale
Source: 404 Media
AI is acting 'pro-anorexia' and tech companies aren't stopping it
Source: The Washington Post
Twitter/X defends restoring account that shared child abuse material
Source: The Guardian
Instagram Connects Vast Pedophile Network
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Extremism Finds Fertile Ground in Chat Rooms for Gamers
Source: The New York Times
YouTube’s recommendations send violent and graphic gun videos to 9-year-olds, study finds
Source: The Winnipeg Free Press
Children find porn on Twitter more than anywhere else. Here’s how it lets them
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
TikTok Feeds Teens a Diet of Darkness
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Twitter Criticized for Allowing Texas Shooting Images to Spread
Source: The New York Times
Big Tech-funded groups try to kill bills to protect children online
Source: The Washington Post
Pornhub cuts Utah residents’ access to its site in protest of age verification law
Source: The Guardian
How Facebook and Instagram became marketplaces for child sex trafficking
Source: The Guardian
Snapchat tried to make a safe AI. It chats with me about booze and sex.
Source: The Washington Post
Zuckerberg Was Warned on Social Media Addiction, Filing Says
Source: Bloomberg
Elon Musk's Vision Of Trust & Safety: Neither Safe Nor Trustworthy
Source: Tech Dirt
Twitter insiders: We can't protect users from trolling under Musk
Source: BBC News
Under-18 TikTok users to be limited to one hour - until they change settings
Source: The Guardian
Opinion: How Google ignores social media’s consequences for children
Source: LA Times
“Every parent’s nightmare”: TikTok is a venue for child sexual exploitation
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Now for sale: Data on your mental health
Source: The Washington Post
Musk Pledged to Cleanse Twitter of Child Abuse Content. It’s Been Rough Going.
Source: The New York Times
Twitter suspended 400K for child abuse content but only reported 8K to police
Source: Arstechnicas
Make Big Tech managers personally liable for child safety breaches
Source: The Telegraph
Apple fined 8M euros in French privacy case
Source: Politico
Twitter said it fixed 'verification.' So I impersonated a senator (again).
Source: The Washington Post
Meta fined 390M euros in latest European privacy crackdown
Source: The Associated Press
Social media moderators 'forced to check' up to 1,700 videos a day to keep children safe
Source: The Telegraph
TikTok self-harm study results 'every parent's nightmare'
Source: The Guardian
World-first report shows leading tech companies are not doing enough to tackle online child abuse
Source: eSafety Commissioner
Report: TikTok boosts posts about eating disorders, suicide
Source: The Associated Press
Amazon, Uber ads appear on Twitter pages of white nationalists restored by Musk
Source: The Washington Post
TikTok's Viral Challenges Keep Luring Young Kids to their Deaths
Source: Bloomberg
Meta Fined $277 Million for Leak of Half a Billion Users
Source: BNNBloomberg
40 States Settle Google Location-Tracking Charges for $392M
Source: USNews
The Internet Is Full of Predators. Omegle Lets You Meet Them.
Source: Mother Jones
For Sex Traffickers, Jack Dorsey's Cash App Is 'King'
Source: Forbes
Bill Outlawing Online Suicide Assistance Would Open Sites to Liability
Source: The New York Times
How Google's Ad Business Funds Disiniformation Around the World
Source: Propublica
Dared by the Algorithm: Dangerous challenges are just a click away
Source: Fairplay
TikTok may be fined £27m for failing to protect children
Source: BBC News
TikTok Faces Hefty Privacy Fine in UK Children's Data Probe
Source: BNNBloomberg
Meta executive apologises over inappropriate content seen by Molly Russell
Source: The Guardian
Child Predators Use Twitch to Systematically Track Kids Livestreaming
Source: Bloomberg
Meta Sued for Skirting Apple Privacy Rules to Snoop on Users
Source: BNN Bloomberg
Instagram fined €405m over children's data privacy
Source: BBC News
Apple, Facebook, Microsoft forced to come clean on child abuse material
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
Meta's Facebook agrees to settle data privacy lawsuit
Source: Financial Post
Source: San Francisco Examiner
Twitter Faces Legal, Political Peril in Whistle-Blower Case
Source: BNN Bloomberg
Inside the secret world of trading nudes
Source: BBC News
Twitter fixes security bug that exposed at least 5.4 million accounts
Source: TechCrunch
Chinese vaping giant flouting UK advertising rules on selling to children
Source: The Guardian
Children's rights groups call out TikTok's 'design discrimination'
Source: TechCrunch
Herbal Abortions Are Going Viral on TikTok. They Could Kill You
Source: Rolling Stone
Upskirt photos shared in Facebook groups, BBC finds
Source: BBC News
Pornhub Parent Company's CEO and COO Resign
Source: Variety
The Fight To Hold Pornhub Accountable
Source: The New Yorker
White supremacists are riling up thousands on social media
Source: The Associated Press
Your kids' apps are spying on them
Source: The Washington Post
Facebook fails again to detect hate speech in ads
Source: The Associated Press
A Platform 'weaponized': how YouTube spreads harmful content- and what can be done about it
Source: NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights
Before Massacre Began, Suspect Invited Others to Review His Plan
Source: The New York Times
A teen girl sexually exploited on Snapchat takes on American tech
Source: The Washington Post
Failure to Protect: Social media copmanies are failing to act on antisemitism
Source: Center for Countering Digital Hate Inc.
A barrage of assault, racism and rape jokes: my nightmare trip into the metaverse
Source: The Guardian
Paedophiles hijacking Zoom to share animal pornography
Source: The Telegraph
Instagram under fire over sexualised child images
Source: The Guardian
How Instagram fails to act on 9 in 10 reports of misogyny in DMs
Source: Center for Countering Digital Hate Inc.
Hidden Hate: How Instagram fails to act on 9 in 10 reports of misogyny in DMs
Source: Center for Countering Digital Hate Inc.
Designing for Disorder: Instagram's Pro-eating Disorder Bubble
Source: Fairplay
A Facebook bug led to increased views of harmful content over six months
Source: The Verge
Facebook fails to label 80% of posts promoting bioweapons conspiracy theory
Source: The Guardian
Adults or Sexually Abused Minors? Getting It Right Vexes Facebook
Source: The New York Times
Facebook’s most popular posts show how it’s vulnerable to exploitation, report finds
Source: The Washington Post
TikTok algorithm directs users to fake news about Ukraine war, study says
Source: The Guardian
‘Kill more’: Facebook fails to detect hate against Rohingya
Source: The Associated Press
Instagram Adds Parental Controls for the First Time
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Five years after launching Live, Instagram is adding moderators
Source: Protocol
Facebook Has a Child Predation Problem
Source: WIRED
Source: The Verge
Metaverse app allows kids into virtual strip clubs
Source: BBC News
TikTok agrees to $2M settlement of Canadian class-action lawsuit over data collection
Source: The Logic Inc.
Facebook ‘has no data’ on how ‘dreadful’ posts shown to Molly Russell were selected
Source: The Telegraph
Inside Facebook's African Sweatshop
Source: TIME
Roblox: The children's game with a sex problem
Source: BBC News
Kids are flocking to Facebook’s ‘metaverse.’ Experts worry predators will follow
Source: The Washington Post
How data-hungry companies expose children to risk online: the case of recommendation systems
Source: 5Rights Foundation
Mother of 11-year-old who died by suicide sues social media firms Meta and Snap
Source: The Washington Post
Nearly half of the accounts Twitter fails to remove for abusing women go on reoffend
Source: Center for Countering Digital Hate Inc.
Facebook's Metaverse: One incident of abuse and harassment every 7 minutes
Source: Center for Countering Digital Hate Inc.
Mother raises alarm on explicit Reddit posts featuring underage Sask. Girls
Source: Regina Leader-Post
Lawmakers urge the head of Instagram to better protect children.
Source: The New York Times
Instagram pushes drug content to teens
Source: NBC News
Three in four girls have been sent sexual images via apps, report finds
Source: The Guardian
Roblox voice chat checks ID to keep kids safe, but slurs and sex sounds slip through
Source: The Washington Post
Facebook accused of continuing to surveil teens for ad targeting
Source: TechCrunch
Exclusive: Brands blast Twitter for ads next to child pornography accounts
Source: The Telegraph
Facebook apps used to groom 24 children every week
Source: The Telegraph
Source: NBC News
The Facebook Files: A Wall Street Journal Investigation
Source: Wall Street Journal
TikTok faces privacy investigations by EU watchdog
Source: BBC News
The Facebook Files: Facebook Knows Instagram Is Toxic for Teen Girls, Company Documents Show
Source: The Wall Street Journal
How TikTok Serves Up Sex and Drug Videos to Minors
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Apple allows children to access casual-sex and BDSM apps, finds report
Source: The Guardian
Instagram fuels 70 per cent rise in online grooming of children
Source: The Telegraph
Staggering' fivefold rise in child sex images found on Facebook
Source: The Telegraph
Reddit faces lawsuit for failing to remove child sexual abuse material
Source: The Verge
Omegle: 'I'm being used as sex-baiting bot' on video chat site
Source: BBC News
Google under fire for showing rope adverts when people search 'suicide'
Source: The Telegraph
Facebook’s apps used in more than half of online child sex crimes
Source: The Telegraph
More than 70 lawmakers call for criminal investigation of MindGeek
Source: The Star
Source: The New York Times
Working at TikTok was like being in a ‘digital prison’, say ex-employees
Source: The Telegraph
Source: Vice
Child Abusers Run Rampant as Tech Companies Look the Other Way
Source: The New York Times
WhatsApp is failing to stop paedophiles sharing child abuse images, say police
Source: The Telegraph
Facebook's Bottomless Pit of Scandals
Source: CNN
Pornhub will allow children to watch porn on their smartphones and bypas
Source: The Telegraph
Facebook logged SMS texts and phone calls without explicitly notifying users
Source: The Guardian
Facebook asks users: should we allow men to ask children for sexual images?
Source: The Guardian
These links are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement by C3P of their content or any associated products and services. The opinions expressed in the articles are those of the original drafters.
The articles are included at a point in time and represent the information that was known at the time by the news source, or reporter. In some instances, the company or companies named in the articles have now stated they have addressed the issues discussed in the articles.
Links to articles are included in the original language of the publication. French articles have been included where the article was originally published in French