(Credit: Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Meta is trying to stop "sextortion" on Instagram after some teens committed suicide in the wake of falling victim to such scams through the app.
Instagram is rolling out a new education campaign alongside a set of tools to help prevent sextortion scams on Instagram. Sextortion, which has reportedly spiked 300% between 2021 and 2023, is typically when bad actors obtain or trick teens into sharing sensitive images or videos of themselves—and then threaten to expose that media unless they receive money or other demands.
To help teens spot extortion attempts early on and raise awareness about the steps to take when threatened, Instagram is releasing an educational video it created in partnership with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Thorn, a non-profit that builds technology to combat sexual abuse. The video will appear on the feeds of teens in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia—the countries targeted most by such scammers.
Instagram is also adding new safety settings. The first is nudity protection, which blurs intimate images shared in DMs and warns users about the risks associated with it. The feature was tested earlier this year and will be turned on by default for users under 18.
(Credit: Meta)Instagram will also block the ability to screenshot images sent using the "View once" or "Allow replay" features. Viewers will not be able to open the image on the web, either. WhatsApp already has these features, and Instagram will receive the same "soon."
Instagram "Teen Accounts," which restrict all users under 16 from changing account settings without a parent's permission, are also getting more changes. Scammers can't DM teens who don't follow them back, but they can still send a request and stalk them.
If Instagram detects scammy behavior, it will block an account's ability to send requests to teens. The platform also won't let scammers view a teen's "following" list to prevent them from using those contacts in a blackmail attempt.
(Credit: Meta)"Scammers often misrepresent where they live to trick teens into trusting them," says Meta. To combat this, teens will also notified about the location of a user they are chatting with if they happen to be from a different country. Scammers could get around this by setting up accounts with VPNs turned on, however.
In the US, Instagram will also be adding in-app support for victims of sextortion. When people report such issues, they'll see an option to chat with a volunteer counselor from Crisis Text Line, an organization that provides free, 24/7, confidential mental health support and crisis intervention.
In addition to the rise of sextortion on Instagram, Meta has also been heavily criticized for Instagram's impact on mental health more broadly. The social media giant is currently facing two addiction lawsuits filed by over 30 US states.
"Meta has known sextortion is happening at scale for so long," said Annie Seifullah, a lawyer who has worked on nearly 50 sextortion cases involving Meta apps. "This feels like too little, too late."