this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2025
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If Lemmy/Pixelfed/Masto can’t capitalize on this we fucked up.

EDIT: realized it might be email/paywalled. In short, the IG algorithm started showing a huge number of gruesome murder videos to random users for seemingly no reason.

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[–] Lyubo@lemmy.ml 9 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Just stop using it. Try sometimes else, you may like it. 🤷

Or nothing else. Get a fulfilling hobby, and you'll probably find your life more meaningful.

[–] SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org 17 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

There is a simple fix: delete your instagram account.

[–] icedcoffee@lemm.ee 2 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Or don't. Just quit SM and do something else w/ your life.

It's too late for me, but maybe someone else can get out.

[–] sudoer777@lemmy.ml 9 points 13 hours ago

This happened to a bunch of people yesterday, I ended up being one of them and my feed turned into absolute insanity, now it's back to shitposts

[–] Ledericas@lemm.ee 2 points 11 hours ago

Zuckerberg is trying to learn what make HUMANS tic, so he can better communicate with organic lifeforms.

[–] LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 5 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

The rumor is that the moderation team for those images which on strike temporarily

[–] icedcoffee@lemm.ee 1 points 5 hours ago

I am choosing to believe this and no one can convince me otherwise

[–] Flames5123@sh.itjust.works 14 points 18 hours ago

Instagram is so awful. I go to search and it’s filled with AI girls and cosplay/bikini/lingerie girls. I don’t follow any of those kinds of accounts.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 111 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Better question:

Why is Instagram hosting horrific violence, animal abuse, murders, dead bodies, and other gore videos AT ALL?

They aren't rotten.com, so why host it? If you don't host it, then you don't need to worry about the feeds screwing up.

Do they do porn videos too? There's the next potential problem...

[–] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 4 points 13 hours ago

Because people are sick and if you put an upload button on any website, the sickness will spread through it. Instagram has content moderators and probably AI to filter it but if you have more sick people uploading this shit than moderators, well it gets through. Believe me, they dont want to host it because its not advertiser friendly and alienates users.. there is no incentive to them hosting this, as you said, they arent rotten.

[–] CarbonBasedNPU@lemm.ee 22 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

tbf if you go looking for it you can find it on any service because people post it everywhere for some reason. Its actually really suprising how I haven't come across any on lemmy (im sure its here somewhere ive just never seen it).

The real problem is algorithms picking up on negative interactions and showing it to more people based on that.

[–] TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works 14 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Its actually really suprising how I haven't come across any on lemmy (im sure its here somewhere ive just never seen it).

Disable your NSFW block setting and every 1/3 post is porn, or the dedicated instance http://lemmynsfw.com/ (warning NSFW if it wasn't obvious)

It's actually so active I wish there was a dedicated option for "porn NSFW" and "other NSFW" when making a post because since most people have the block setting on nobody will see it, even if it's just like a photo of art with blood in it or something mild

[–] Miaou@jlai.lu 6 points 11 hours ago

Lol I thought you meant the exact opposite thing, having to miss any picture with a nipple in it because I don't wanna see beheading videos or whatnot

[–] LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago

It’s because they are massive online attacks by govt orgs. That’s why they have access to all that footage, especially war footage - it’s theirs. That’s why all those Russian torture videos exist - many are literally just officers and prison guards for Putin, and he releases them as a warning to spies and people abroad. It’s online terrorism

Oh there's plenty of porn in there. Not hard-core stuff, and done in a way to fool algorithmic detection, but it's there

[–] halykthered@lemmy.ml 33 points 21 hours ago (4 children)

Perhaps to desensitize the common person to the impending brutal violence that will be sweeping the united states.

On a related note, if you are a member of a marginalized group in the united states, you are behind the curve if you do not own, and are not basically proficient with, some form of self defense. This includes some kind of martial art, but a visible deterent is prefered.

[–] Dil@is.hardlywork.ing 12 points 20 hours ago

I like this but realistically what was supposed to be blocked from the algorithm got shown and pushed instead, prob a simple error

[–] LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 2 points 14 hours ago

The people who post that stuff want to psychologically damage people, especially young people. PTSD is real and has real effects.

[–] oakward@feddit.org 1 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

I believe it is more refined than that. People in sound mind do not like violence, they want a peaceful and stable life for their families and friends.

If you show violence, you portray a threat. Over time people will be more lenient to surveillance and restriction of freedom in the name of law and order. Look at US people, tolerating torture and widespread vigilance since 11/9. All while still spewing "China bad" or "Putin bad". Why? The ends justify the means.

Let's see if it was a mistake or if the violence is here to stay in Meta apps

[–] halykthered@lemmy.ml 1 points 6 hours ago

We are speaking of the same tree, friend, though some roots go deeper than others. I think the path down the road you mentioned diverges here. I believe there was ill intent behind this, though I cannot offer any proof.

[–] icedcoffee@lemm.ee 4 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

I see someone’s been reading their Frantz Fanon

[–] halykthered@lemmy.ml 4 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

No idea who that is, but an important lesson I learned from Uvalde is the is the unintended consequences of the capitalistic virtue of rugged individualism. Even professional tough guys, when thinking death is on the line, will hesitate.

As a minority in america, when some iteration of the proud boys comes knocking, demanding to see a birth certificate, it is imperative that you get them thinking that there's a chance that they don't walk away. Get them thinking, "What about me?" and your chances of survival should increase.

I understand that many will be reticent to threaten another with violence and death, which is perfectly reasonable. However, unfortunately, that is not the reality in which we live. Edit: Formatting, spelling

[–] interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml 2 points 12 hours ago

Too busy defederating and not making frictionless account migration work so no we're only going to get a trickle while big tech rasputin luls rhe refugees with pied pipe

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 5 points 16 hours ago

Yep. Just checked. I don’t use it hardly at all, but now it’s loaded with pro-trump, -musk, -doge, transphobe, etc. Just a crapload of right-wing bullshit.

[–] diemartin@sh.itjust.works 3 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

My mother doesn't use Instagram, but she's been getting videos on Facebook of people in shootouts/duels/armed robberies/etc, apparently from a brazilian (or at least Portuguese speaking) page, usually ending with someone dead.

[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 51 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I posted this in the other link, from the article:

In an email, a Meta spokesperson told 404 Media “We have fixed an error that caused some users to see content in their Instagram Reels feed that should not have been recommended. We apologize for the mistake.” They said that the problem does not have anything to do with Meta’s recent announcement that it would loosen some content moderation rules.

To prove that this was actually happening, I sent Meta six links to graphic reels. These included two videos of people getting shot in the face, a video of a dead body with no context or obvious news value, a person getting lit on fire, the account called “PeopleDeadDaily,” and the tower of terror video. None of these videos have been deleted.

One of the many problems preventing people from actually holding Meta to account for any of this is that everyone’s feed is so incredibly personalized. Like I said, because we report on the darker corners of the internet, my Instagram feed is full of horrific things on a daily basis, which is probably not everyone’s experience.

[–] 18_24_61_b_17_17_4@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago (3 children)

What the hell is the tower of terror video?

[–] PlantJam@lemmy.world 48 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Any time a video is known by its title instead of a description, it's better not to seek it out.

[–] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Now I'm intrigued.

[–] Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world 9 points 20 hours ago

It's described in the article, got to it from one of the other links on lemmy. It's the older tower of terror smaller carnival rides. The ones that are like 20-40 seats around a central pole and the seats alternate between going up and down the pole at as rapid a pace as that much weight can be cheaply moved.

The video in question is about someone falling off of it.

[–] icedcoffee@lemm.ee 14 points 1 day ago

For anyone not familiar (assuming you’re being serious here) the tower of terror is a ride based on a movie where you’re essentially in a simulated free-falling elevator. No seatbelts or safety inside the box but my understanding is that they are held to the same safety standards as other roller coasters. I legitimately can’t tell if this is about the ride or a real free falling elevator.

[–] sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip 42 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I keep fucking forgetting 404 media is a legit news source and I'm not actually looking at a parody news/onion style community.

[–] amon@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

Named like one too

[–] Filetternavn@lemmy.blahaj.zone 35 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This was already posted here, and the original post has a paywall bypass link

[–] icedcoffee@lemm.ee 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Doing the lords work and I appreciate you!

[–] slackassassin@sh.itjust.works 4 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Doing the lords work would probably be to support 404 for doing the lords work ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[–] icedcoffee@lemm.ee 3 points 14 hours ago
[–] Zoldyck@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago

Oh they always have a reason, and it's extremely unethical

[–] Juice@midwest.social 11 points 1 day ago

My son showed me this last night, its insane. Its like one video from his feed and then two videos of people getting mauled

[–] dohpaz42@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

That explains a lot for my feed. I’ve been getting more fights, and a lot more republican propaganda than I had ever in the past. I usually just close the app and wait 15 minutes before trying again, which usually “resets” my feed.

[–] rottingleaf@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Not even a cycle ago I wrote a long post about optional (pluggable, like you can choose different sources of weather in some applet or of exchange rates in some personal finances application ; except unlike these, you'd have to query such for every post your client application should display or consider banned) moderation authorities in a hypothetical social media system.

[–] Usernameblankface@lemmy.world 0 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)