Instagram protects teens from sextortion; working on Social Library feature

Instagram is introducing new measures to protect teens from sextortion, by making it harder for criminals to blackmail them.

Separately, it appears to be working on a new Social Library feature intended to make it easier to find posts you’ve shared, liked, or been sent in chat …

Sextortion is becoming a growing problem for teenagers using social media. A criminal will create a fake profile using a photo of an attractive teen, then befriend victims. They gradually become more sexual in their chats before sharing intimate photos, and encouraging the victim to reciprocate.

When they do, they will be blackmailed with the threat of exposing the photos to their contacts. The blackmailer will often demand that the victim send increasingly explicit photos or video to avoid this.

The crime is an extremely serious one, and has led to teen suicides.

The Washington Post reports that Instagram is rolling out new protections, comprising warnings about sextortion and hiding followers, making it harder for criminals to threaten to share their photos.

Instagram owner Meta says, with some organized groups working together to pressure teenagers into sharing nude photos. Meta said in a statement Thursday that the settings such as hiding teens’ follower lists from potential blackmailers make it harder for criminals to connect with young people on the photo-sharing app and give teens more resources to learn the signs of a sex scam.

Separately, developer Alessandro Paluzzi has spotted a new feature in the iOS beta of the Instagram app, known as Social Library.

Instagram is working on Social Library, a section where you can easily find posts, Reels, and media you’ve shared or received in chat threads, collections, and likes

The Verge notes that search functionality appears to be included.

A magnifying glass in the corner of the screenshot suggests this content will be searchable, too, which could make it a lot easier to quickly find a Reel or post you’re looking for.

Photo by Peter Forster on Unsplash