Mark Zuckerberg says goodbye to ‘Hot Zuck Summer’ as Instagram enters full crisis mode.

The “Hot Zuck Summer” quickly turned into an “Instagram Nightmare Fall” as reports emerged of disturbing and sexualized content involving children being recommended Instagram’s Reels. The scandal is a major blow for Meta, the parent company of Instagram, which was already facing lawsuits from 33 states and growing discontent among big advertisers. The Wall Street Journal conducted tests to show the jarring content being served to test accounts, including footage of children and sexually suggestive adult videos, as well as ads for major U.S. brands. Despite Meta’s claims of investing aggressively to stop such content and the announcement of new brand-safety tools, the latest scandal raises serious concerns about the safety and well-being of young users on Instagram. The company’s COO, Sheryl Sandberg, and other Meta executives declined to comment, while lawsuits and complaints continue to pile up against the company. This scandal has finally put Instagram in the spotlight, with public opinion rapidly turning against the social media platform. Major advertisers such as Match and Bumble are already canceling ads, signaling a larger backlash against Meta and its brands. It’s a far cry from the calm spell that seemed to grace Zuckerberg and Meta just a short time ago.