Key Points:
- Snapchat cracks down on sextortion with in-app warnings and regional friend request blocks.
- Warnings target suspicious accounts with a history of blocks, reports, or unusual locations.
- Automatic blocks prevent friend requests from accounts lacking mutual connections linked to scam regions.
Social media giant Snapchat is taking a firm stance against sextortion scams targeting teenagers on its platform. In a recent blog post, the company detailed robust new features designed to safeguard young users from these malicious interactions.
Sextortion scams involve perpetrators threatening to expose compromising photos of a victim unless they comply with demands, often involving financial payments or the sending of additional explicit material. The FBI has highlighted the devastating consequences of these scams, including a disturbing rise in teen suicides.
Snapchat’s defense strategy involves a two-pronged approach. Firstly, the app will now display prominent warning messages whenever a teenager receives a message from a potentially risky account. These red flags include accounts previously blocked or reported by other users, or those originating from regions outside the user’s typical social network. These warnings empower teenagers to make informed decisions about interacting with strangers, offering options to report, block, or proceed with caution. Previously, warnings only addressed situations where senders lacked mutual friends or contact connections.
Secondly, Snapchat is introducing a system that automatically blocks friend requests altogether. This applies to accounts with no mutual connections and a history of accessing the app from locations known for harboring scam activity. By proactively filtering out these potentially harmful interactions, Snapchat aims to create a safer online environment for its younger users.
The fight against sextortion extends beyond Snapchat. The proliferation of AI-powered tools has unfortunately facilitated the creation of deepfakes, making it easier for perpetrators to fabricate compromising photos. While these warnings won’t eradicate the issue, they represent a crucial step by social media platforms to address the problem. This proactive approach comes amidst growing pressure from governments around the world to implement stricter regulations to safeguard children online.
In addition to these anti-sextortion measures, Snapchat is also streamlining its location-sharing settings. By consolidating all location settings into a single, centralized hub, users gain clearer control over who sees their location data. This update allows users to effortlessly view a list of recipients, modify sharing permissions, or entirely remove their location from the map. Snapchat further strengthens location privacy by introducing frequent reminders about who has access to this information.
