Would you let your child hang out somewhere there was a 1 in 8 chance they’d be sexually harassed every single week? Unfortunately, that place is Instagram, where 1 in 8 children under 16 reported experiencing unwanted sexual advances over the course of one week.

Meta didn’t want us to know that. This disturbing statistic was one of several pieces of internal research about kids’ bad experiences on Instagram the company tried to hide from the public. For the second time in two years, a whistleblower has come forward with internal research from Meta showing they know their products hurt kids.

This latest batch of leaked information about Instagram paints a grim picture for its underage users, who spend their time dodging organized pedophile rings, perfectionist beauty filters, bullies, and trolls. In addition to the widespread sexual harassment, 1 in 4 kids told Instagram they had witnessed hostility against someone’s race, religion, or identity in the past week and 1 in 5 felt worse about their appearance after using the app. Recent research shows girls spend more than 5 hours every day using social media.  

Meta and Instagram cannot keep knowingly harming our kids and exposing them to sexual harassment, abuse, hate speech, and design features that drive down their self-esteem. Meta, stop allowing sexual harassment to thrive on Instagram!