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‘If Instagram didn’t exist, it wouldn’t have happened’: a mother’s search for her trafficked daughter (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

13 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Four years after Robyn Cory’s daughter was groomed at 15 on Meta’s platform and sold for sex by a gang, she is still missing

Robyn Cory’s daughter Kristen was 15 when she was allowed to open her own Instagram account. “We thought we’d been responsible and done everything we could to make it safe,” says Cory.

Months later, Kristen disappeared from the family home after being groomed on Instagram’s direct message service by a criminal gang, who then sold her for sex on the streets of Houston.

Her daughter never recovered from her ordeal, Cory says. Kristen returned home but has since gone missing after being trafficked again. Her mother does not know if she is still alive.

Cory blames the gang who trafficked her daughter for destroying her life. She also blames Instagram, which she believes played a critical role in her daughter’s sex trafficking.

“If Instagram didn’t exist, this wouldn’t have happened to my daughter,” she says. “Instagram is why it was so easy [for these people] to do this.”

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 9 months ago

Damn that's horrible.

Prostitution needs to be legalized and regulated so it's safe for sex workers and clients. If legal establishments that provide safe and non exploitative services then horrific abuses like this come much easier to light.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 9 months ago (1 children)

"she was targeted by a criminal gang running prostitution rings in Houston city centre in 2019.

Boys working as scouts for the gang at Kristen’s school identified her as a potential target and she was then bombarded by messages from gang members through the direct message function on her Instagram account.

“They promised her Louis Vuitton bags, they promised her yacht trips, and things like that in the Instagram messages,” says Cory. “They would say, ‘come and party with us’.”"

Yeah... clearly social media is the only way that happens...

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago

it could've happened through SMS as well, they would've just had to find her phone number.

or literally in person, that's possibly even more effective.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

And attaches no blame to herself, no doubt.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Not doing everything perfectly doesn't mean a parent should lose their child to such a horrible fate. It's pointless and cruel to blame the victims for not having prevented this

[–] [email protected] 77 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It happened before social media and cell phones too.

It's just back then there wasn't a trail of IM's and communications, kids just went missing at malls and other places they had been getting groomed in person.

[–] [email protected] 51 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Social media makes it easier for the perpetrators, to target vulnerable people.

It also reduces opportunities for family/teachers/community to intervene. If someone saw you talking with suspicious characters, they are more likely to bring that up with parents. Social media can isolate all interactions to be between the victim and groomer.

Social media platforms also give the perpetrators anonymity. A groomer can pose as someone else that gives them access to more victims. They can also simultaneously target more victims at once and over a broader area.

It is not right to say social media is not a fault. It's not right to say it was a problem before so it doesn't matter anymore. This attitude only benefits the criminals.

Social media companies are explicitly and knowingly targeting children to generate ad revenue. They know these children aren't using the platform safely and they know they are circumventing it's age restriction features. They don't care about the consequences, only the revenue they can generate.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

If someone saw you talking with suspicious characters, they are more likely to bring that up with parents. S

Do you not know what a mall is?

Am I getting that old?

kids just went missing at malls and other places they had been getting groomed in person.

A concerned parent can look at their kids phones a lot easier than they can spy on what happens outside of school/home.

Like, were teenagers leaving and running around without their parents not a thing when you were growing up? We'd drive to the nearest city or college campus all the time just to dick around for the day and come back.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

I don’t know about you but when I was a teen in the times you mentioned we went out to those places as a group, not alone. If a stranger approached one of us and tried to get us alone it would have been weird.

Social media can certainly make it easier to isolate an individual while also giving them a sense of safety. A teen today can be sitting in the safety of their bedroom all by themself and be groomed by someone through social media.

Like with most things technology has made this easier than before and in this case that’s not a good thing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

I have never been to a mall without my parents as a teen lol.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Oh look another feel good story out of America's best state!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

Yeah, the sex trafficking in Houston is out of this world.