If piggybacking is art, the devil is a Picasso. Remember Acts 16:17? Fast forward to the year 2020, and the strategy is still working. In this blog post, I wish to share how the devil is pushing pornography and nudity through Social Media today by overrunning Facebook and Instagram with porn and other sexually charged images or videos. [This post was updated on Wednesday, July 1st, 2020]

Pornography and Nudity on Facebook

For many years the line between pornographic websites and non-pornographic websites was crystal clear. Thanks to Facebook Newsfeed, however, this line doesn’t exist anymore. Consequently, our children don’t have to search for pornography. Instead, pornography comes to them.

If you are not familiar with the Facebook Newsfeed, it is a collection of events from the Mini-Feeds’ of your friends’ that gives you a quick look at what they have been doing on Facebook (which is cool). Unfortunately, let’s assume your friend shared a sexually explicit image or a video (intentionally or accidentally), and that image, too, will appear in your newsfeed as an update.

Further, many Porn Stars maintain Fan Pages on Facebook, under the categories of Models and Actresses. Facebook’s robust search engine makes finding these pages a cakewalk. Although the fan pages seldom post content featuring full nude or hardcore sexual activity, they serve as funnels for luring the viewer into visiting the actual website and viewing the full-length content. Unfortunately, reporting these pages to Facebook doesn’t work every time.

Pornography and Nudity on Instagram

Posting nudes on Instagram is the norm today. An advocate of the trend once said, “I think that for a lot of girls it’s about empowerment and control of their own body. They post those photos to show that the answer to nobody and not only proud of their physique but in ownership of themselves.”

Strangely though, according to the site’s Community Guidelines, even ‘artistic’ nudity is forbidden. (According to Protect Young Eyes a Digital Safety Organization; however, Instagram does not enforce these guidelines. Refer to the post here for details.)

We know that there are times when people might want to share nude images that are artistic or creative in nature, but for a variety of reasons, we don’t allow nudity on Instagram. This includes photos, videos, and some digitally-created content that show sexual intercourse, genitals, and close-ups of fully-nude buttocks. It also includes some photos of female nipples, but photos of post-mastectomy scarring and women actively breastfeeding are allowed. Nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is OK, too.

Instagram Community guidelines

Searching the site for terms like ‘nude,’ ‘babes,’ ‘sexy’ and variations thereof, or the name of any porn star in the site’s search bar quickly returns results that violate the site’s ban on nudity. The app doesn’t filter these search results to prevent minors from seeing them. The hashtag #Sexy has more than 57 million posts, many of which are clips from porn videos while #porngirls has more than 300,000 of them.

Resisting Social Media Porn and Nudity

Pornography is a serious issue. If you are an adult and addicted to pornography, I advise you to seek assistance from a seasoned spiritual leader but if you are looking for a simple defense strategy to fight off the occasional urge the blog post here can help.

Protecting your kids, on the other hand, is much more challenging but not impossible. Given below is an inclusive list of things you can do as a parent to protect your kids from pornography on social media.

Pray for the heart and mind of your Child

Whatever you do, allocate top priority to prayer because our struggle is not against flesh and blood but the principalities in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). Use Psalm 119:37, if you need a place to begin. Replace “me” with the name of your child. Remember, the enemy is a prowling lion, looking for someone to devour.

Prepare your kids through God’s Word

A Pastor once said, ‘when parents don’t teach their children to uphold God’s values, the society will teach them to uphold the values of the devil’.

Pornography is not a topic; you will be comfortable discussing with your children. Still, it’s a must-have conversation because society doesn’t feel uncomfortable about exposing our children to pornography. Your children need to be ready to stand their ground when the battle begins, lest they fall. You are responsible for teaching the consequences of giving into pornography, not the school, not the church. Some school curriculums on sex education are in direct conflict with biblical principles. If you need guidance on talking to your children concerning the issue the My Counselor website has a concise article backed with a video interview.

Monitor your kids’ Online Profiles

Last but not least, as a parent, you always have the right and the authority to monitor your kids’ Social Media profiles. Monitoring includes but is not limited to following them on Instagram, being friends with them on Facebook, checking their followers and following lists regularly (on Instagram), vetting their friend lists on Facebook, watching out for unusual activity as well as spotting fake profiles among other things. If necessary, consider using Parental Control Software.

Refer to the relevant Parental Guides

Although Facebook and Instagram don’t seem to uphold their policies concerning pornography and nude content on their networks they provide solid advice for parents. Click here to visit the Facebook Parent Portal or here to visit Teen Safety Tips for Parents on Instagram.

Wrapping it all Up

We cannot eliminate the presence of porn from Social Media. But remember you are not alone in your struggle to protect your children or yourself. The multitude of concerned parents around the globe has led to the creation of a vast array of resources to help similarly concerned parents to protect their children from pornography. Just drop us an email, and we will tell you where to find them. After all, God is on your side. So, don’t lose hope. As Paul reassures in Romans 8:31 “If God is for us, who can be against us.”

If this content was helpful to you, please consider leaving your feedback in the comments section at the bottom, sharing it with friends and family via email and social media, or both. It would be a great encouragement to me personally and contribute to the edification of the Church.