Sextortion is a serious crime where scammers exploit victims by threatening to expose their intimate imagery unless demands are met. To counter this growing threat, we’re launching a comprehensive campaign and introducing new safety features aimed at educating and protecting our community, particularly teens and young adults, from these malicious tactics.
Raising Awareness Among Teens and Parents
Education is a powerful tool in preventing sextortion. In collaboration with child safety organizations like the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and Thorn, we’ve developed resources to help young people recognize the warning signs of sextortion scams. These include:- Red Flags to Watch For: Scammers may approach victims with excessive friendliness, request photo exchanges, or suggest moving the conversation to another app.
- Educational Video: Teens are introduced to strategies for identifying and avoiding scams, reassuring them that sextortion is never their fault.
Parental Resources
To assist parents, we’ve partnered with creators who share guidance on discussing sextortion with teens. This includes identifying scams and responding effectively if their child is targeted. Helpful conversation guides, co-developed with Thorn, are also available.New Safety Features to Prevent Sextortion
We’re introducing innovative features to disrupt sextortion attempts on our platforms:- Stronger Messaging Restrictions: Teens under 18 will now experience stricter limits on who can send follow requests. Accounts showing signs of suspicious behavior may have their requests blocked or marked as spam.
- Safety Notices: Alerts will notify teens when they’re chatting with someone potentially located in another country.
- Privacy Enhancements: Scammers will no longer see follower lists, likes, or tags on posts for accounts flagged as suspicious.