A horror story for every parent: Popular preteen girl’s Instagram followers are 92% grown men — who fetishize her pics on the dark web

A Midwest mom encouraged her preteen daughter to launch an Instagram account to fulfill a dream of becoming an online influencer — and now 92% of her followers are creepy grown men.

The girl, an aspiring dancer now in high school, was able to connect with other young influencers when she launched her page three years ago — and has even landed modeling gigs and been showered with freebies from major designer brands, according to a special report by the Wall Street Journal.

The girl, who is not named, also saved up about $20,000 thanks to generous donations and other perks.

But it’s come with a chilling dark side.

Instagram’s algorithms have steered men with deviant sexual attraction to children to the girl’s page, flooding it with unwanted comments and come-ons, according the Journal.

Young social media influencers are inadvertently attracting an unwanted audience — creepy adult men, according to a special report by the Wall Street Journal. Getty Images/iStockphoto

“If you want to be an influencer and work with brands and get paid, and it all works with how many people like and engage with your post, you have to accept it,” the girl’s mom told The Journal.

Many of these men harvest photos of young girls and trade them in dark web group and channels on the encrypted messaging app Telegram.

An adult male user in one such group commented that the girl’s mother knew “damn well” that her daughter’s posts would attract “pervy adult men,” according to the Journal.

“We’re all model scouts, agents and brand owners,” he posted. “We’re totally NOT jerking off to the pics.”

After starting off innocently enough. Her follower count grew to more than 100,000 within a year, and the girl started to get paid sponsorship offers.

But she was also getting troubling replies calling her “gorgeous” or commenting on her body — primarily by a growing group of grownup male followers.

The girl’s dad told The Journal his daughter’s male fans part of the industry’s “seedy underbelly.”

Even more troubling are the men who signed up for paid subscriptions after the girl launched a program for super-fans receive special photos and other content.

Her mom conceded that those followers are “probably the scariest ones of all.”

Meta, which owns Instagram, said it monitors content and bans anyone under the age of 13 from opening accounts on their own — but the pervs slip through.

Yet the site’s algorithms steer users to their favorite content — be it inappropriate or not, the WSJ said.

Meta, which owns Instagram, says it has tried to address online safety for young users who are constantly followed by creepy adult men, according to a new report. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

However, the mom said she took steps to shield her daughter, a trait-A student with a 4.0 GPA in school.

She monitors the site and forbids certain types of photos, including swimsuit pics, and has blocked many of the more inappropriate commenters and followers.

The girl said she still finds her ambitions to be a content creator worth the unwanted attention.

“I try to keep it girlie,” she said. “I always have bows in my hair and cute stuff. Girls obviously want to see fashion inspiration and hairstyles.

“I also never post in swimsuits,” she said. “That’s the number one way to attract men, so that’s a big no.”