Parents Outraged as Meta Uses Schoolgirl Photos in Ads

The use of schoolgirl photos in targeted advertisements by Meta has sparked outrage among parents. Reports indicate that a 37-year-old man discovered images of young girls in school uniforms appearing in his Instagram feed, promoting the platform’s new social media site, Threads. The photos, which were shared publicly by parents, depicted girls as young as 13, raising serious concerns about privacy and the marketing tactics employed by the tech giant.

One mother expressed her distress over the situation, noting that her Instagram account was set to private. Others, who had public profiles, were unaware that Meta’s settings allowed for cross-platform posting, resulting in their children’s images being automatically duplicated on Threads. Many of these posts featured young schoolgirls in attire that some parents deemed inappropriate, prompting strong reactions from concerned guardians.

A father of one 13-year-old girl described the promotion as “absolutely outrageous.” He stated, “When I found out an image of her has been exploited in what felt like a sexualised way by a massive company like that to market their product, it left me feeling quite disgusted.” Another parent criticized the advertisements as “deliberately provocative and ultimately exploitative of the children and families involved.”

Meta responded to the backlash, asserting that the advertisements did not violate its policies. The company explained that it promotes publicly shared photos adhering to its community standards and that these were posted by adults. A spokesperson added that the images are intended as recommendation tools rather than targeting minors.

Despite Meta’s reassurance, the 37-year-old recipient of these ads argued that the marketing had “an aspect of sexualisation.” He emphasized the inappropriateness of using children’s images to target adult audiences: “As a father, I find it deeply inappropriate for Meta to repurpose these posts in targeted promotion to adults.”

Parents like the mother of a 15-year-old girl whose photo was used without consent expressed their outrage. She stated, “For me it was a picture of my daughter going to school. I had no idea Instagram had picked it up and are using it as a promotion. It’s absolutely disgusting. She is a minor.” Her account reportedly has under 300 followers, but the image of her daughter attracted nearly 7,000 views, with a significant portion coming from non-followers, predominantly men over 44.

Meta, originally founded as Facebook and valued at approximately £1.5 trillion, emphasized that it has systems in place to prevent the recommendation of content shared by teenagers or that violates its guidelines. The company also mentioned that users can manage whether their public posts are suggested on Instagram.

This incident has brought to light the ongoing concerns surrounding digital privacy, particularly regarding the use of children’s images in online advertising. Parents are calling for more stringent measures to protect minors from being exploited in marketing campaigns. As scrutiny over social media practices increases, the responsibility of tech companies to safeguard user privacy remains a pressing issue.