Deepshikha Maan, Jadetimes Staff
D. Maan is a Jadetimes news reporter covering Asia
Instagram Implements New Features to Combat Sextortion
Instagram will soon prevent users from taking screenshots or screen recording content meant to be viewed only once, as part of its ongoing efforts to curb sextortion on the platform.
Meta’s New Safety Features for Teens
Parent company Meta has announced a series of updates aimed at protecting teenagers from falling prey to scammers who manipulate them into sending intimate photos, later using these images for blackmail. The updates include tools that blur nude photos in messages and permanently hide the follower and following lists of users from potential sextortion accounts.
Regulatory Pressure and Child Safety Concerns
The release of these features coincides with a warning from the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, which stated that social media companies could face fines if they fail to protect children online. Child safety organizations like the NSPCC have welcomed the updates as a "step in the right direction." However, Richard Collard, the NSPCC’s associate head of child safety online policy, questioned why similar protections were not being implemented across all Meta products, such as WhatsApp, where grooming and sextortion also occur frequently.
Rising Sextortion Scams
Law enforcement agencies globally have reported a rise in sextortion schemes, particularly targeting teenage boys. According to the UK’s Internet Watch Foundation, 91% of sextortion cases reported in 2023 involved male victims.
New Tools to Prevent Exploitation
Among the newly introduced tools, Instagram will disable the ability to screenshot images and videos sent via its "view once" or "allow replay" features, available in Direct Messages. This update will apply to both mobile and web versions of the platform.
Antigone Davis, Meta’s head of global safety, highlighted the platform’s proactive steps to provide teens and parents with information on how to recognize and prevent sextortion attempts. "We’ve built in protections so that parents don’t need to take extra steps to safeguard their teens," she explained. However, she also noted that sextortion scammers are continuously finding ways to bypass protective measures.
Understanding Sextortion
Sextortion is a form of online abuse where victims are tricked into sending sexually explicit content, which is then used for blackmail. The emotional impact of these crimes, including stress, shame, and isolation, has led to tragic outcomes, with some victims taking their own lives.
In one high-profile case, Ros Dowey, the mother of 16-year-old Murray Dowey, who took his life in 2023 after being targeted by a sextortion ring on Instagram, criticized Meta for not doing enough to protect young users on its platforms.
Increased Privacy for Teen Users
Meta’s new safety campaign also aims to build on existing protections for young users. Alongside hiding follower lists from potential predators, Instagram has moved under-18 users into Teen Account settings by default, which include stricter privacy controls. Parental supervision will be necessary for younger teens to disable these settings.
Some experts and parents have argued that this approach still places too much responsibility on teens and their guardians to identify and report potential threats.
Moving Toward Stricter Online Safety
Dame Melanie Dawes, CEO of the UK regulator Ofcom, emphasized that the responsibility for online safety lies with tech companies. As the Online Safety Act is set to be implemented next year, Dawes reinforced that firms must ensure a safe environment for users rather than relying on parents or children to police harmful content.
