Sex trade thriving on Instagram
By Park Si-soo
Lee Jong-hyuk, a salaried man in his mid-30s, was baffled last week when he checked the alert of a new follower of his photo-sharing Instagram app.
“I saw a naked photo (of a woman) on the profile (of the new follower) with a lewd introduction line apparently promoting prostitution,” Lee recollected. “I have since had several other followers with similar profiles and messages.”
This account indicates that the sex trade is thriving on Instagram, as was the case with Facebook. Instagram users and experts said the trend will become more noticeable as the app continues to gain popularity in Korea.
As of the end of last year, an estimated 6 million people in Korea use Instagram, double-digit growth from the previous year. This has caused a sharp increase of obscene content on the app and other social media outlets.
According to the Korea Communications Standards Commission, 72,111 “inappropriate” postings on social medial were blocked last year alone, up 23.6 percent from a year earlier.
The Korea Times explored Instagram with sexually explicit keywords in Korean and was able to find dozens of accounts instantly. Many of them were containing sexually provocative pictures with memos promoting paid sexual services.
“24-year-old. Living in Incheon,” an account wrote with several sexually provocative images uploaded.
Another account wrote, “We arrange for you a highly profitable part-time job, which is having sex with divorced lonely women in their mid-30s. You can be paid up to 800,000 won for a two-hour session.” These postings contain IDs of the nation’s leading instant messengers such as Kakao Talk or Line.
“These accounts lure visitors to send messages to ID owners, many of whom are swindlers,” an industry insider told The Korea Times. “But there are also agents who actually arrange sexual deals.”