Fireworks: BBC, Instagram, Telegram and --- the Killer Topic --- Porn

Fireworks: BBC, Instagram, Telegram and — the Killer Topic — Porn

I do reference illegal online content in my Dark Web lectures. Heck, I just start the training session by telling the law enforcement, cyber fraud investigators, and intelligence professionals in the sessions to be aware that buying bad stuff is a click away.

Yep, it's that easy to commit a crime or become a victim if you download the wrong digital confection.

The BBC, however, does not address closed lectures for government professionals. The Beeb is a respectable outfit and, yes, I know about that lovable character associated with some sex crimes over a period of … decades. Therefore, I know the BBC is among the first to hop on a hot topic about cross platform methods to purchase illegal content.

The BBC's write up "Instagram Running Ads Promoting Child Sexual Abuse Material in India, BBC Finds" says:

Instagram has been running paid adverts promoting child sexual abuse material in India, a BBC Eye investigation has found. The ads, seen by the BBC World Service, use terms including "rape video" and "child video" and link users to channels on the messaging app Telegram, where they can buy the material for as little as 99 rupees (about 80p)… Ads on Instagram are only published after first being approved by its moderation technology. Source: BBC News

For those not tracking online crime, I know this type of corporate behavior may be unfamiliar. I know that if a person does not go hunting for bad stuff, most online platforms deliver a reasonably vanilla experience. Poke around a bit, and, one can locate some interesting products, services, software, "friends," and cute little online games purpose-built to hook kids on crypto gambling. Parents are generally clueless. Average online users are clicking in a cloud of unknowing. But the bad actors work overtime to find ways to convert the seemingly benign into conduits of crime.

However, the interesting factoid in the write up is not the fact that kiddie abuse videos are available for about a dollar 24x7. Here's the important point for those interested in how services can pretend to not know what use their service is applied:

… it [the Mark Zuckerberg Instagram service] began showing adverts of children with adults in sexually suggestive situations, with links to Telegram channels.

Yep, this is a cross service play. Ads, presented with code words or intentionally confusing lingo, are submitted to the Zuckerberg advertising machine. The once-interesting Zuckerberg smart software moderation system gives the ad the okay or not okay flag, and, if the ad is green lit, it runs in the geozone the advertiser specifies. It's important to keep in mind that no happy, productive Zuckerberg employee gets involved in the basic ad intake, review, and display process. (Where did this method originate? My research suggests that the idea accidentally surfaced as the old Facebook hired lots of Googlers familiat with that company's estimable advertising system and method. That, by the way, reaches back to innovators at Idea Lab, Overture, and Yahoo. Innovation in online advertising has been slow since the pay-to-display model burst forth decades ago.)

Here's the key part. A bad actor creates a persona. That false identity signs up for accounts on Instagram and Telegram. Then the persona sets up the store front on Telegram, a process greatly facilitated with [a] bad bots for sale and [b] Telegram's AI assisted coding system to eliminate the need to do too much learning about how to be a bad actor.

Once the Telegram back end is working. The bad actor uses some type of acceptable payment method to buy ads, maybe create them using Zuckerberg's ad system, fills in the demographic target like men 25 to 50 in the beautiful city of Mumbai, and let's the system rip.

This is a very simple cross platform play. Telegram is free. Instagram is either free or cheap. The technology is reliable. One click, popping in payment data, and — bingo — specialized content.

Why is the Instagram to Telegram factoid relevant? Answer: That's the future of onlilne crime, not just kiddie stuff. Automation, the use of different platforms, and cross jurisdiction operation makes a difficult and genuinely unpleasant investigatory job much harder.

Too bad the BBC focused on the salacious part of the problem. The real story, in my dinobaby opinion, is that the shape and texture of online crime can now be discerned, described, and linked to specific high value, publicly traded entities like Meta.

I want to point out that the BBC is alleging misbehavior. I am just surfing on this somewhat sensationalist story to point out that, if the allegations are proven true, then is is time to say, "So that's how online crime will operate from July 2026 to some point in the future."

But wait. Online crime gets worse. I have the opportunity to deliver an invited lecture about what online crime will look like in the post-Telegram world. If your organization wants to know more about our research into next-generation online crime, just email kentmaxwell at proton dot me.

Oh, Telegram hosts more than buck-a-view videos. Live streaming is also available.

Stephen E Arnold, July 8, 2026