Meta attempts to crack down on sextortion in new campaign

Meta has launched a new campaign to protect teens and children from social media sextortion scams. It’s designed to help teenagers and their parents easily spot online scammers, who trick young people into sending intimate photos and use financial blackmail, threatening exposure.

It was co-developed by Meta and Thorn – a non-profit organization that builds tech to defend children from sexual abuse -- as well as leading child experts and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

There are many safety layers to these new rules:

• They limit the ability of strangers to connect with young people on social media.
• When an Instagram account is private, teens and children can now only exchange messages with people they follow.
• There is a nudity protection feature and other restrictions on photos.
• Another person's followers are now blocked.

The new campaign includes a video that helps teens recognize the signs of a potential sextortion scammer, which include:

• Coming on too strong.
• Asking to exchange photos.
• Asking to move the conversation to a different messaging app or platform.

Tech analyst Carmi Levy said this is a productive step by Meta, but still not far-reaching enough.

"If you are a parent or if you are a teenager or anyone involved in caregiving, you should not just assume that we are now over the line and this problem is solved," said Levy who added, sextortion extends well beyond just Meta and its platforms like Instagram and Facebook. "These companies need to be held accountable by better laws that punish them if they are not compliant."

According to CTV News’ public safety analyst and former OPP commissioner Chris Lewis, the biggest obstacle with sextortion investigations is the fact that parents and law enforcement only know what is being reported. Many teens are staying silent, and not telling anyone because of fear and embarrassment.

“The kids realize that if they fall into one of these traps and post something online or exchange photos, it’s something that will follow them for the rest of their lives," said Lewis. "It could put them in a vulnerable position and ultimately they may be talking to a 50-year-old in Europe and not a 15-year-old kid down the street like they think."

The key to any future success with these new safety features is parental involvement, said digital anthropologist Giles Crouch.

"It all comes down to the parents actually spending time with their kids to learn how they are using these platforms," said Crouch. "And will they take the time to put these controls on their kids’ phones."

The program is being released in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia, countries that are commonly targeted by sextortionists based on data provided by Meta.

This new campaign includes a feature that prevents teens 16 and under from making changes to their teen account settings on Instagram without their parents’ permission.