By G. Mudalige, Jadetimes Staff
G. Mudalige is a Jadetimes news reporter covering Technology & Innovation
Instagram has announced a series of new safety features designed to prevent sextortion, a growing issue on social media platforms. These tools, part of Meta’s broader efforts to protect users, are particularly aimed at safeguarding teens from being tricked into sending intimate images to scammers who then blackmail them.
One of the most significant changes introduced by Instagram is the disabling of screenshots and screen recordings for images and videos intended to be viewed once. This new feature, part of Instagram’s Direct Messages, applies to media sent with the “view once” or “allow replay” options. By preventing recipients from capturing this content, Instagram aims to reduce the chances of sensitive images being shared without the sender’s consent. This feature will also be implemented across the web version of Instagram, ensuring comprehensive protection regardless of the platform used.
In addition to the new screenshot prevention feature, Instagram is making other previously tested tools permanent. These include a feature that blurs potentially nude images in messages, allowing users to decide whether to view or ignore them. Another important change is the hiding of follower and following lists from potential sextortion accounts, making it harder for scammers to target vulnerable users, particularly teens.
Sextortion has become an alarming problem on social media, with law enforcement agencies around the world reporting a sharp rise in cases. Teenage boys have been especially targeted, often lured into sending explicit material and then blackmailed. According to the UK's Internet Watch Foundation, 91% of sextortion cases reported in 2023 involved boys.
Meta, Instagram’s parent company, is taking steps to educate both teens and parents about sextortion. Antigone Davis, Meta’s head of global safety, explained that Instagram is launching an awareness campaign designed to help users identify and avoid sextortion scams. The campaign will provide information on how to spot these attempts and what to do if users are targeted. “We have put in built-in protections so that parents do not have to do a thing to try and protect their teens,” Davis told BBC News. However, she acknowledged that sextortion scammers continuously evolve their tactics to bypass safety measures. This has created an ongoing challenge for platforms like Instagram to stay ahead of these criminals. Meta is also transitioning under-18 users into its "Teen Account" experience on Instagram, where stricter privacy settings are turned on by default. These settings offer increased protection, requiring parental supervision if teens wish to change any of the default privacy controls.
While Meta’s new features are being praised as a step in the right direction, some experts and organizations believe more needs to be done. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) welcomed the changes but questioned why similar measures have not been implemented across Meta's other platforms, such as WhatsApp. Sextortion and grooming also occur frequently on WhatsApp, and critics argue that Meta should extend its safety features to all its platforms.
Richard Collard, the NSPCC’s associate head of child safety online policy, emphasized the importance of broadening these protections to other apps. “Questions remain as to why Meta are not rolling out similar protections on all their products, including on WhatsApp where grooming and sextortion also take place at scale,” Collard stated.
As social media platforms continue to grapple with the issue of sextortion, regulatory bodies are stepping up their oversight. Ofcom, the UK's communications watchdog, has warned that companies failing to keep children safe online will face fines under the upcoming Online Safety Act. Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom’s chief executive, stressed that it is the responsibility of firms like Meta, not parents or children, to ensure online safety. The tragic case of 16-year-old Murray Dowey, who took his own life in 2023 after being targeted by a sextortion gang on Instagram, highlights the devastating impact of such crimes. Murray’s mother, Ros Dowey, criticized Meta for not doing enough to protect children on its platforms.
Instagram’s new safety features, including the prevention of screenshots for "view once" media and the hiding of follower lists, represent a positive step in the fight against sextortion. While Meta’s efforts are commendable, there is a clear call from experts, parents, and regulators for the company to roll out similar protections across all its platforms. As sextortion remains a pervasive issue, the pressure on social media companies to ensure the safety of young users is higher than ever.
