London – Instagram is taking a stand against sexual extortion and the exploitation of young people with new tools designed to protect its users.
In a blog post released on Thursday, the popular social media platform announced its plans to implement new features that will help combat sexual scams and other forms of “image abuse.” These measures are part of Instagram’s campaign to make it more difficult for criminals to target teenagers and young adults.
Sextortion, a form of blackmail that uses explicit photos to manipulate and threaten victims, has become a growing problem in recent years. Shocking cases, such as the Nigerian brothers who pleaded guilty to sexually extorting teenage boys and a Virginia sheriff’s deputy who kidnapped and extorted a 15-year-old girl, have brought this issue to the forefront.
Many have criticized social media platforms, including Instagram’s parent company Meta Platforms, for not doing enough to protect young people from these types of crimes. Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg even apologized to the parents of victims during a Senate hearing earlier this year.
In response to these concerns, Instagram has announced the testing of new features to safeguard its users. One of these features includes automatically blurring any nudity in direct messages. This is a significant step towards protecting young people from unwanted and harmful images, as well as preventing scammers from exploiting them.
According to Instagram, scammers often use direct messages to request “intimate images” from their targets. With the new nudity blur feature, any images containing nudity will be automatically blurred with a warning message. Users will then have the option to view the image or block and report the sender.
For users under the age of 18, this feature will be turned on by default. Adult users will receive a notification encouraging them to activate it. Additionally, those who send messages with nudity will be reminded to be cautious about sending sensitive photos and given the option to unsend them before anyone has a chance to see them.
While these new tools are a step in the right direction, some critics believe that more needs to be done to protect young people. Arturo Béjar, a former engineering director at Instagram, pointed out that the current measures only protect senders, not recipients. He urged for more transparency and options for recipients who receive unwanted advances, citing that 1 in 8 teenagers receive unwanted contact on Instagram every week.
In response, Instagram stated that they are working on technology to identify accounts that could potentially be engaging in sextortion scams. This includes using a range of signals to detect suspicious behavior. The platform is also taking measures to prevent these criminals from connecting with young people, such as hiding the “message” button on a teenager’s profile and testing ways to hide teen accounts from potential sextortion accounts.
The FBI has also warned of the increase in sextortion cases targeting children, with a particular rise in financially-motivated cases. This includes instances where the victim is threatened with the release of compromising images unless they pay the blackmailer. Unfortunately, these targeted victims are often young boys between the ages of 14 to 17, and the FBI warns that anyone can become a victim.
In the six-month period from October 2022 to March 2023, the FBI saw a 20% increase in reported cases of financially-motivated sextortion involving minor victims compared to the same period the previous year.
Instagram’s efforts to combat sexual extortion and image abuse are much needed and commendable. However, it’s clear that there is still work to be done to fully protect young people on social media. With the testing of new tools and continued efforts to address this issue, hopefully, platforms like Instagram can create a safer online space for everyone.
