Why are sex bots stalking my Instagram Stories?

Instagram has been riddled with sexbots in recent months, inundating people with likes and DMs – but why and who are they?

Bots are far from a new concept and are certainly not exclusive to one platform, but the IG'ers have certainly raised the bar with some seemingly realistic features.

They generally use seductive display pictures along with dodgy URLs in the bio to draw people in – and sometimes they'll go as far as taking to your comments and asking: "Why does everyone go to the bathroom after viewing my story?"

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The issue has become so prominent that TikTokers have scrambled to crack the code.

One user joked about the "audacity" of a bot liking her Instagram Story – and you know it's a problem when bots are showing more attention than the person they're dating.

Cybersecurity expert Mara Miano explained to VICEthat bots carry out this tactic to "appear legitimate."

Another TikToker claimed: "If you’re a public account, and you’ve seen those like ‘free sex’, ‘sugar daddy’, or ‘watch my pu***’ accounts, um, you’re being watched. Somebody you know is watching you."

While this may be true for the classic Finsta or burner accounts, it's not necessarily the case for all. Some are simply just spam with links that often lead to haphazard websites.

Luckily, Instagram have existing measures in place to tackle spam accounts, with an automated anti-spam system that runs millions of checks per second to catch and remove spam before it becomes widespread on the platform.

If they pick up on the potential inauthentic activity, they will ask users to confirm who is behind the account.

Suspicious users will be asked for ID to prove who they are. If unable to do so, the content may receive reduced distribution, or the account could be disabled.

With bots and fake accounts coming in thick and fast, the only immediate cause of action is to report and block. However, this could be a time-consuming, tedious job given they're everywhere.

To do this, all you need to do is:

• Tap the three dots on their profile
• Select Report and follow the on-screen instructions

The other option is to go private – but this takes away half of the fun on the platform.

A Meta spokesperson told Indy100: "We want the content you see on Instagram to be authentic, and we block millions of fake and spam accounts every day.

"We continue to invest in anti-spam technology, and in our safety and security team of over 40,000 people, who are focused on keeping spam and other types of harmful content off our platforms."

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