Instagram recently unveiled a series of new safety features aimed at protecting its users, particularly teens, from the growing threat of sextortion scams. Sextortion is an alarming crime in which scammers threaten to expose intimate images to extort money or favors from their victims.
These new measures, such as the introduction of hiding followers and following lists, preventing screenshots of sensitive content, and the global rollout of nudity protection, aim to strengthen Instagram’s platform defenses to make it harder for scammers to exploit users.
According to Instagram, these measures are part of a broader campaign in collaboration with leading safety organizations such as NCMEC, Thorn, and Childnet, designed to raise awareness and empower families to combat online exploitation.
Accounts exhibiting potentially fraudulent behavior will no longer be able to view users’ lists of followers or people they’re following, a common method used by sextortion criminals to target individuals.
Coming soon, users will no longer be able to take screenshots or recordings of fleeting images or videos sent in direct messages using the “view once” or “allow replay” feature. This protection extends to Instagram’s web version to prevent circumvention of the feature.
Instagram’s nudity protection feature, which blurs sensitive images in direct messages, is rolling out globally. Enabled by default for teens under 18, the feature warns users of the risks of sending sensitive content.
Instagram’s new teen account safeguards, recently introduced, provide built-in protections that limit who can contact teens, what content they can see, and how much time they spend online. These accounts impose stricter default message settings on teens, ensuring they can only be contacted by people they follow or are connected to.
By strengthening its security measures and educating users about the potential risks of sextortion, Instagram is helping to protect its online community from the most pernicious forms of exploitation. These new features provide additional protection for users and help build trust in the online environment. It is essential to remain vigilant and stay informed about the protection tools available to protect yourself from such online threats.