Sextortion on the Rise as Snapchat Implements Safety Measures

Social media use among kids has been a hot-button issue in the past few months. From school-wide bands to viral stories of dangerous TikTok trends, it is clear that social media is becoming an issue. Sextortion is a recent scam that has been growing with social media apps. Snapchat has implemented safety measures in response to the growing problem. 

In a blog post on Tuesday, June 26th, Snapchat outlined some of its new protections. One such measure is extended warning messages accompanying chat requests from unknown users. Unknown users are those who aren’t friends, aren’t in your contacts, or aren’t mutual friends. Teens will receive a warning when they get a message from someone blocked by others who do not reside in the same location. 

Snapchat will block friend requests from people in scammer-dense areas that are unknown to teens. Snapchat’s implemented safety measures are specifically designed to target sextortion scams. Additional warnings and scam prevention are just some of the new techniques being used to protect the youth on the internet. 

What is Sextortion? 

Sextortion is a dangerous scam that often targets kids who use the internet or social media. Otherwise known as “financial sextortion,” it revolves around using sexual content to scam and threaten kids. 

Usually, sextortion criminals entice children to share or send explicit selfies or sexual content of themselves. Upon receiving the images, the scammers threaten the kids with sharing the photos with their relatives, close family, school, or work. In exchange for not sharing the images, scammers ask kids for money, gift cards, or other bribes. 

Platforms such as Snapchat are highly aware of these scams on their platforms. In a Snapchat article on sextortion, they cited that 65% of Gen Z users in 2023 claimed to have been targets of sextortion schemes. Platforms such as Snapchat urge their users (and their user’s parents) to be aware of their schemes. They advise you to check who follows you regularly and to be diligent about receiving new messages or followers. 

Platforms such as Snapchat have implemented new safety measures and prevention tactics to crack down on these issues. In addition to the new measures Snapchat has made, they have also been using signal-based protection to stop scammers before they can reach kids. They have also claimed to use the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Take it Down database to leverage information. 

Snapchat Implements New Safety Measures: What Are Other Apps Doing? 

While it is hopeful to see apps like Snapchat implement new safety measures, it brings into question what other platforms are doing. 

In April, Meta announced that it was taking steps to stop sextortion among its app users. Similar to Snapchat safety measures, Meta added more warnings and blockades to stop unknown messengers. They also added options that allow users to report DMs that request sexual content. In addition to these direct changes, Meta has also been cracking down on the presence of nudity on their platform as a whole. 

Are Kids Safe on Social Media 

With all these new safety measures added to platforms, parents across the nation wonder whether their kids are safe on social media. While seeing these safety measures implemented is positive, people still worry that they are not enough. As with any scam, people believe that scammers will eventually find ways to circumvent these safety measures.

Most agree that the best we can do is stay vigilant. Platforms have clarified that they will continue adding new safety features as platforms change and scammers evolve. In addition to their efforts, they urge users to be vigilant and cautious while using platforms. Another new Snapchat safety measure is regular warnings to new users. These will, in theory, keep scammers on the minds of young users who have the power to block and report unusual activity.