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Instagram porn bots’ latest tactic is ridiculously low-effort, but it’s working

Porn bots are pervasive across social media, despite platforms' best efforts to stamp them out. In order to avoid detection by moderation tools, the scammers behind them continually change their methods.

Another bot — its profile picture a headless frontal shot of someone’s lingerie-clad body — commented on the same meme post, “Michigan 🌟.” Once you’ve noticed them, it’s hard not to start keeping a mental log of the most ridiculous instances. One might assume social media users today would be too savvy to fall for obviously bot-written comments like “Michigan 🌟,” but according to Narang, scammers’ success doesn’t necessarily rely on tricking hapless victims into handing over their money. Their presence also adds to the challenges that real content creators in the sex and sex-related industries face on social media, which many rely on as an avenue to connect with wider audiences but must constantly fight with to keep from being deplatformed.

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