Meta launches new tools to curb sextortion through Instagram and Facebook

CBC
·2 min read
People receiving nude images through Instagram and Facebook will see them with a blurred filter and be given warning messages. (Meta - image credit)
People receiving nude images through Instagram and Facebook will see them with a blurred filter and be given warning messages. (Meta - image credit)

Warning: This story deals with suicide. If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual extortion, or is struggling with mental health, you can find resources for help at the bottom of this story.

Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, announced new tools Thursday designed to protect its users from sextortion and other forms of online intimate image abuse.

Sextortion is a growing crime in Canada, and the perpetrators often use social media as a platform.

The perpetrators will pose as someone they are not, share an explicit image with someone, lure them into sending an intimate image in reply, and then threaten to send the victim's images to their contacts if they don't send money.

The new Meta features aim to stop the crime by interceding when images are sent, specifically:

  • Blurring images when someone tries to send a nude picture through an Instagram DM, to encourage people to think twice before sending intimate images in return.

  • Blurring nude images for people receiving them.

  • Triggering warnings about the dangers of sharing when a nude picture is detected.

  • Linking to web sites with safety tips and resources.

Users would have to have these protections turned on, but the company said that would happen by default for users under 18. Adults would be encouraged to turn on the protections.

"We've worked closely with experts for years to understand and track these scammers' behaviors," Meta said in a news release.

"This is an incredibly adversarial space, where determined criminals continue to evolve their tactics to evade our protections."

Attempting to share nude images would result in warnings for users who have protections turned on.
Attempting to share nude images would result in warnings for users who have protections turned on.

Attempting to share nude images would result in warnings for users who have protections turned on. (Meta)

Sextortion can have tragic consequences. Last year, 17-year-old Harry Burke died by suicide in eastern Prince Edward Island just hours after sending nude images of himself to someone who claimed to be a teenaged girl.

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection receives 10 reports of sextortion every day. Representatives of the charity have told CBC News they believe that is just the tip of the iceberg of activity in the country, since many attempts are never reported to authorities.

If you or someone you know is struggling, here's where to get help:

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