Snapchat introduces new safety tools to protect teens from sexual abuse

Snapchat is taking further steps to safeguard teenagers on its platform by implementing safety tools aimed at preventing sextortion, a form of sexual and financial exploitation. The company recently unveiled a range of features designed to enhance user safety, including expanded warning pop-ups that will now appear when teens receive messages from unknown individuals or those not within their contact list. Furthermore, Snapchat will display warning messages to teens if they receive chats from blocked or reported users, or if the sender is from a region where the users' other contacts are not located, as these could flag potential scammers. This is prepared by SSP.

In an effort to combat scammers, Snapchat is implementing restrictions on friend requests for teenagers. Friend requests from accounts that do not share mutual friends with teens, particularly those located in regions associated with scamming activities, will not be delivered. These targeted safety measures complement the broader suite of youth safety precautions undertaken by Snapchat.

These new features aim to ixprevent instances of financial sextortion, a disturbing scam prevalent across social media platforms. This type of scam manipulates young individuals into sending explicit photos, only to extort money from them in exchange for keeping the images confidential. Jacqueline Beauchere, Snap's Global Head of Platform Safety, emphasized that these safety tools were specifically designed to protect teenagers from online risks while fostering genuine connections among friends.

The increased prevalence of online sextortion scams, frequently originating from overseas locations, has prompted law enforcement agencies to issue warnings. In some heartbreaking cases, sextortion has tragically resulted in suicides. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has previously announced its own measures to combat sextortion, such as warnings for users who have interacted with potential sextortionists. Social media leaders, including Meta and Snap CEOs, recently testified in a Senate subcommittee hearing on their attempts to prevent the online exploitation of young individuals.

Snapchat has also introduced enhancements to its blocking tools. Blocks now extend to any new accounts created on the same device, making it more difficult for users to bypass the restriction. Additionally, users will receive more regular reminders, specifically teenagers, regarding their location settings on Snapchat's "Snap Map" feature. By centralizing this information, users can configure their settings, remove their location from the map, and selectively share their location with friends.

These updates supplement Snapchat's existing safety features for teens, such as the "Family Center," where parents can monitor the behavior of 13- to 17-year-old users, along with mechanisms for identifying and removing age-inappropriate content.