SAN FRANCISCO, OCT 18 – Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, yesterday announced new measures to combat sextortiona form of online extortion in which criminals force victims, usually teenagers, to send pornographic images of themselves.
The measures include tighter controls on who can follow or message teen accounts and security notices in Instagram and Facebook Messenger direct messages about suspicious cross-border conversations.
The move reinforces Instagram’s ‘Teen Accounts’ announced last month and designed to better protect underage users from the dangers associated with the photo-sharing app.
The company also implemented restrictions on fraudsters’ ability to view follower lists and interactions, as well as preventing screenshots in private messages.
In addition, Meta globally launched a protection feature to blur photos to help teenagers before they send them, in Instagram direct messages.
In certain countries, including the United States and Britain, Instagram will show teens videos in feed them on how to detect fraud sextortion.
Such initiatives aim to help teenagers identify signs of fraud sextortionsuch as individuals who want to request a picture exchange or try to move the conversation to a different application. – AFP
