Instagram says it is testing new features aimed at protecting young people and combating sexual extortion on Meta platforms.
One of the new features includes automatically blurring nudity in direct messages (DMs).
Instagram said in a blog post that the new changes aim to "make it more difficult for potential scammers and criminals to find and interact with teens".
It's a growing issue across the world, so what is sextortion and how does Instagram plan to target it?
How is Instagram combating sextortion?
Instagram's nudity protection will blur an image and encourage anyone trying to forward a nude image to reconsider.
"When someone receives an image containing nudity, it will be automatically blurred under a warning screen, meaning the recipient isn’t confronted with a nude image and they can choose whether or not to view it," Instagram said.
"We’ll also show them a message encouraging them not to feel pressure to respond, with an option to block the sender and report the chat."
The feature will be automatically turned on for users aged under 18.
Other developments include:
- Defaulting teens into stricter message settings so they can't be messaged by anyone they're not already connected to
- Showing safety notices to teens who are already in contact with potential scam accounts
- Offering a dedicated option for people to report direct messages threatening to share private images
- Developing a platform that lets young people take back control of their intimate images and helps prevent them from being shared online.
Instagram says it will direct safety tips to anyone who is sending or receiving nude images.
"These tips include reminders that people may screenshot or forward images without your knowledge, that your relationship to the person may change in the future, and that you should review profiles carefully in case they’re not who they say they are."
What is sextortion?
The Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation describes sextortion as "a form of blackmail where someone tricks or coerces you into sending sexual images of yourself and then threatens to share the images unless you comply with their demands".
The demands are often for more images, payment or sexual favours.
Instagram said scammers frequently target young people in direct messages.
"While people overwhelmingly use DMs to share what they love with their friends, family or favourite creators, sextortion scammers may also use private messages to share or ask for intimate images," Instagram said.
"We take severe action when we become aware of people engaging in sextortion: we remove their account, take steps to prevent them from creating new ones and, where appropriate, report them to the NCMEC [National Center for Missing and Exploited Children] and law enforcement."
Why is Instagram targeting the issue?
The issue of sextortion is a topic of rising global concern, with recent high-profile cases occurring across different continents.
On Monday, NSW Police said two men were arrested and charged in Nigeria over the alleged sextortion of a 16-year-old Australian boy who took his own life.
A police investigation last year revealed the teenage boy was engaging with an "unknown person online", who he thought was a young woman.
The "unknown person" then threatened to share personal photos of him with his family and friends if he did not pay $500.
In 2012, Canadian woman Carol Todd's teenage daughter Amanda took her own life after she was sexually exploited and bullied online.
Ms Todd told ABC NewsRadio that Amanda had been groomed by a man who found her online.
"A person online found my daughter and groomed her and lured her, told her she was pretty and struck up a conversation with her," Ms Todd said.
"And then eventually coerced her into taking off her shirt and the person took an image from the other end."
Ms Todd said Amanda thought she was speaking to someone her own age but it was actually a man in his 30s.
"He threatened her and said that if she didn't share more images of herself and videos of herself or perform in front of a camera for him and possibly others that he would send her pictures out, harass her friends," she said.
Ms Todd said the man sent the images to Amanda's peers and she was bullied and ostracised.
"She just couldn't handle what she was being faced with."
Two years after Amanda's death, the man was located in the Netherlands.
