Meta rolls out new tool to combat 'financial sexual extortion' on Instagram

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has announced the launch of a new tool aimed at protecting teens from "financial sexual extortion" on Instagram. The term describes a situation where abusers threaten to reveal intimate photos of a victim unless they pay a ransom.

Here's What We Know

According to the FBI, the main victims of such attacks are male teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17. The bureau said there is an "alarming rate of suicides" among male victims of financial sex extortion. The company said it is deploying technology to identify users who may be engaging in sex extortion. Instagram's private messages will soon have a "nudity protection" feature that automatically blurs intimate photos sent and received by teens under 18. This gives users the ability to revoke intimate photos they've sent and decide if they want to see a nude photo sent to them.

Meta is announcing new security features that hide "age-inappropriate content" and limit the ability of teens to receive messages from adults they don't know. The new tool will be enabled by default for underage users and Meta recommends that adult users enable it as well.

This is all part of Meta's efforts to protect teens from sexual predators after a number of accusations of not doing enough to protect children on its platforms.

Source: Meta