Keep Seeing 'Porn Stars' Like Your Instagram Stories? Here's Why
There are two ways you can deal with them.
By Tamara Jayne — 28 Feb 2023, 04:30 PM
If you're pretty active on Instagram, chances are you've noticed an increase in 'likes' from random accounts on your Instagram Stories
You might have felt flattered for a moment. Popular, even. But sorry to break it to you, they're not real people.
When you click into these profiles, you'll notice that they're usually privated accounts – sexbots – with nothing but a link in their bios that lead to spam advertisements
This sudden increase in bots on Instagram has been a recurring issue over the past few years, especially in recent months.
Of course, on every social media platform, bots are inevitable. But lately, it's been extra annoying to constantly receive notifications, only to realise that they're not actual 'likes' from real people.
Last month, BuzzFeed News asked Meta, Instagram's parent company, what they're doing to fix it. Here's what a spokesperson for the company had to say:
"We continue to invest in anti-spam technology, and in our safety and security team of over 40,000 people, who are focused on keeping spam and other types of harmful content off our platforms."
According to the report, if you click the links on these sexbot profiles, you may eventually be asked for your personal information, such as your email and phone number, and to enter a password to access porn
It could be a type of phishing, so do avoid clicking into any of these links, or even interacting with the bots in the first place.
What you can do instead is either:
– Make your Instagram account private if you don't want these sexbots to view your stories or
– Report the account to Instagram each time the bots appear or 'like' your stories
By reporting the account, Instagram will be able to flag and analyse the profile, which could lead to its removal if it's a bot.
