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Instagram is adding new features to prevent teen sextortion scams

Meta is continuing its flurry of teen safety features for Instagram as the company faces mounting questions about its handling of younger users’ privacy and safety in its apps.

The changes are meant to address the realities of how sextortion scams, in which scammers coerce teens into sending intimate images that are then used to threaten and blackmail them, are often carried out over Instagram. A report from Thorn and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) earlier this year found that Instagram, along with Snapchat, were the “most common” platforms used by scammers “as initial contact points.” New Mexico is also suing the company and has alleged that Meta didn’t do enough to stop adults from sexually harassing teens on its apps, particularly Instagram.

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