Snapchat is intensifying its efforts to protect teenagers from being contacted by unknown individuals on the app, to curb the rise of 'sextortion'.
The social media platform, which primarily targets a teenage audience, announced new safety features yesterday.
Warning pop-ups
The latest updates include expanded warning pop-ups that appear when a teenager receives a message from a person they do not share mutual friends with or who is not in their contacts.
Additionally, teens will now receive alerts if they receive a chat from a user who has been blocked or reported by others or who is from a different region than their usual contacts.
Snapchat will also prevent the delivery of friend requests from users in regions commonly associated with scammers if mutual friends are not shared.
“These are signs that the person may be a scammer,” Snapchat stated in a blog post on Tuesday.
The measures aim to counter financial sextortion, where bad actors gain the trust of young users, convince them to send explicit photos and then demand payment to keep the images private.
Law enforcement officials have reported an increase in online sextortion scams, often perpetrated by individuals overseas posing as friendly peers. Such scams have, in some cases, led to tragic outcomes, including suicides.
Additionally, Snapchat announced enhancements to its blocking tools.
Now, when a user blocks another account, any new accounts created on the same device will also be automatically blocked.
Location settings key
The platform is also introducing more frequent reminders about location settings on its 'Snap Map' feature.
Users will be able to update their location settings, remove their location from the map and customise which friends they share their location with – all from one spot within the app.
These updates build on Snapchat’s existing teen safety features, including a 'Family Center' where parents can monitor the behaviour of 13- to 17-year-old users, and tools to remove age-inappropriate content.
Meta also introduced new features in April to combat the problem, including notifying users when they interact with someone involved in financial sextortion.
Earlier this year, the chief executives of Meta and Snap were summoned to testify before a Senate subcommittee regarding their efforts to protect young users from online exploitation.