The swift rise of sextortion in the past year has put teens at a severe disadvantage against bad actors determined to blackmail them for money. On Thursday, Instagram responded to the ongoing crisis by launching a major campaign designed to prevent and thwart sextortion.
The crime typically takes place on social media platforms, when an extortionist pressures a teen they've just contacted or befriended into sending explicit imagery of themselves. The criminal then frequently uses that content to demand money in exchange for keeping the images private.
Sextortion has been linked to international criminal groups operating at scale and with speed. Some teen victims have died by suicide after being blackmailed.
The Instagram campaign aims to make it more difficult for people to use the platform for sextortion while also educating teens and parents about the problem. It draws on insight from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Thorn, a nonprofit organization that builds technology to defend children from sexual abuse.
The new features include efforts to detect and block "scammy" accounts, surfacing certain safety notices, and better secure ephemeral images or videos sent via private message. Victims who report problems related to sextortion or child safety will also see an option to connect with Crisis Text Line, which offers free crisis counseling.
Online safety advocates applauded Instagram's campaign against sextortion.
"It's a devastating threat – and joint initiatives like this that aim to inform kids about the risks and empower them to take action are crucial," Kelbi Schnabel, senior manager at Thorn, said in a statement.
New Instagram features to prevent sextortion
The Instagram tools focus on strengthening safety and privacy for teen users. Last month, Instagram debuted more a restrictive Teen Account, which defaults to private and limits who can contact users ages 16 and younger.
Meta, Instagram's parent company, has been sued by plaintiffs, including the state of California, who argue that the company hasn't sufficiently protected minors from harm, or warned them of potential dangers related to using Facebook and Instagram.
Meta said in a blog post Thursday that the new sextortion-prevention features should make it harder for bad actors to communicate with teens. Though teen accounts can't be messaged by strangers, unknown accounts can still request to follow them.
But, now, when an account demonstrates potentially "scammy" behavior, Instagram will block or divert the follow requests it sends to a teen. Additionally, those accounts won't be able to see a person's follower or following lists, which should prevent them from using those contacts and knowledge in a blackmail effort.
Since extortionists often pose as teens who may belong to the victim's extended social circle, Instagram is also testing safety notices shown in Instagram DM and Messenger to inform users when the person they're talking to may be in another country.
Another key to stopping sextortion scammers is making it difficult for them to capture images shared by the victim. Soon, Instagram will do exactly that by removing the ability of users to directly screenshot or screen record images shared temporarily via private messaging. When using Instagram on a browser, users won't be able to open "view once" or "allow replay" of those temporary images and videos.
By default, teens under 18 also won't be able to immediately view nude imagery sent to them via direct message. Instead, the image will be blurred and accompanied by a warning detailing the risks of sending sensitive images. Instagram first tested this feature earlier this year, and is now rolling it out globally.
Online safety experts emphasize how important it is for teens, who may be feeling panicked and hopeless, to reach out for help with sextortion. Victims who report it to Instagram will see an option to chat live with a Crisis Text Line volunteer.
The Instagram campaign also features a new online resource that includes tips for dealing with sextortion, in addition to a link to NCMEC's Take It Down tool, which helps victims get their images removed from online platforms that participate in the initiative.
Meta noted in its statement that the company recently removed over 800 Facebook groups and 820 accounts affiliated with an international criminal group called the Yahoo Boys, which is known for recruiting and training sextortion scammers. Over the summer, Meta removed more than 7,200 other similar groups and accounts.
If you are a child being sexually exploited online, or you know a child who is being sexually exploited online, or you witnessed exploitation of a child occur online, you can report it to the CyberTipline, which is operated by the National Center for Missing Exploited & Children.
