The social network Instagram announced Thursday that it was launching a campaign against blackmail linked to intimate photos or videos and warned that screenshots of photos sent by private message would now be blocked.
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The American group Meta thus intends to strengthen the fight against sextortion, which consists of putting pressure on someone by threatening to disclose intimate images.
On Instagram, it will soon be impossible for a user who receives a “single view” or “authorized replay” image by private message to take a screenshot to keep it. It will also be impossible to circumvent this ban by opening the photos on a computer, Meta said.
After announcing it in the test phase, the group is also generalizing the “nudity controller” on Instagram. Set by default on minors’ accounts, it automatically detects images with nudity received in messaging and blurs them.
In April, it took a first series of measures, including reinforced control over the accounts of minor users, who see their interactions with “suspicious accounts” limited.
The access of these suspicious accounts to the subscription and subscriber lists of minor users, until now restricted, will now be completely blocked.
At the same time, the group is launching a sextortion prevention campaign aimed at young people in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, as well as in Australia.
In July, Meta also removed 63,000 accounts linked to sextortion in Nigeria.
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