Instagram trying nudity blurring to stop 'sextortion'
By Chris Vallance
Instagram will start testing new tools within weeks to fight “sextortion”, a form of blackmail involving intimate pictures sent online.
The tools include “nudity protection”, which blurs naked images in direct messages. It will be turned on by default for under-18s.
Pop-ups directing potential victims to support will also be trialled.
Governments around the world have warned of the increasing threat to young people from sextortion.
It often involves victims being sent a nude picture, before being invited to send their own in return – only to then be threatened that the image will be shared publicly unless they give in to the blackmailer’s demands,
On Wednesday, two Nigerian men pleaded guilty to sexually extorting teenage boys and young men in the US, including one who took his own life.
The offence has also recently been linked to the suicide of a teenager in Australia.
There are also harrowing cases of paedophiles using sextortion to coerce and abuse children.
