On Thursday, its parent firm Meta unveiled measures designed to prevent teenagers from being duped into submitting private photos to con artists and then being blackmailed over them.
Additionally, previously tested technologies that conceal user follower and following lists from possible sextortion accounts and blur naked images in chats will be permanently removed.
It comes as Ofcom, the UK’s communications watchdog, threatens to penalize social media companies for failing to protect youngsters.
The actions were described as a “step in the right direction” by the NSPCC.
However, “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,” stated Richard Collard, associate head of child safety online policy.
The frequency of sextortion scams occurring on social media platforms has increased, according to law enforcement organizations worldwide. These scams typically target teenage boys.
According to a March study by the UK’s Internet Watch Foundation, 91% of the sextortion cases it received in 2023 involved boys.
With its “view once” or “allow replay” options, which users may choose when sending an image or video, the new tools will also make it impossible to take screenshots of photos and videos transmitted in Instagram conversations.
