Snapchat Introduces Features to Combat Sextortion Against Teens

Snapchat has introduced a host of latest options to give protection to teenagers from sextortion.

This comprises growth to its blockading serve as, higher keep watch over over location settings, and protection pop-ups that inspire teenagers to be wary of folks they meet at the app.

Customers can also be inspired to replace their apps on the earliest.

On Tuesday, Snapchat rolled out a host of new safety features to protect teens from sextortion and inspire actual friendship at the app. The corporate stated that those new options come with “expanded in-app warnings, enhanced friending protections, simplified location-sharing, and blocking improvements”

Right here’s an entire breakdown of the brand new security features added to Snapchat

Pal Requests

Pal requests will likely be altogether avoided. Teenagers can neither ship nor obtain buddy requests from anyone they don’t have mutual pals with or if that consumer has a historical past of having access to Snapchat in places continuously related to scamming task.

Coverage From Scammers

The app will warn youngsters in opposition to customers who’ve been blocked or reported by means of different customers. This transfer will be sure that folks with a foul recognition can not means younger customers.

A caution popup will seem if an adolescent is contacted by means of anyone who isn’t from their area/nation, which would possibly point out that the individual is a scammer.

Common updates

Snapchat already sends reminders to all customers, together with teenagers, to be up-to-date on their safety settings and ensure that of which pals they’re sharing their location with. This selection will now get an replace as Snapchat will ship those reminders extra continuously.

Location sharing

It is usually introducing “simplified-location sharing” which is able to assist you to simply customise which of your mates can see your location. It mainly creates a unmarried keep watch over middle for updating/taking out their location and managing who can see it.

Enhanced Blocking off

Blocking off has all the time been an possibility on Snapchat. However now and again, scammers create new accounts to pester their sufferers after being blocked.

With those newest updates, as soon as a consumer is blocked, they may be able to not ship buddy requests from different accounts, so long as they’re created at the identical instrument.

What Else Has Snapchat Been Doing Those Previous Months?

This isn’t the primary time that Snapchat has taken the initiative to safeguard younger customers at the app.

In November ultimate yr, it offered an replace that confirmed an expanded popup to teenagers once they obtain a message from anyone who isn’t of their contacts or they don’t have a mutual buddy with.

For the reason that release of this selection, thousands and thousands of Snapchat customers have in combination carried out 12 million blocks.

Snapchat location sharing is off by means of default because of this until you explicitly consent, no person can test your location. Or even then, it’s simply your mates.

As opposed to that, it makes use of signal-based detection to spot and do away with dangerous actors sooner than they may be able to goal anyone.

Additionally, teenagers aren’t proven in Fast Upload or Seek ideas until they have got a couple of mutual pals with the consumer.

In March ultimate yr, Snapchat introduced new parental control features, which allowed oldsters to limit their kids from viewing ‘sensitive’ or ‘suggestive’ content material.

Closing however no longer least, Snapchat has closely invested in analysis and collaborated with a couple of different organizations to curb sextortion and reduce its have an effect on at the sufferers.

Lately, Instagram also announced similar features to give protection to its younger customers from the rising cases of sextortion.

Options incorporated blurring specific media recordsdata on DMs despatched to teenagers, higher reporting gear together with a helpline quantity, and particular popups for teenagers to warn them in opposition to sending personal pictures by means of DM.

Social media giants like Meta had previous confronted EU investigations for not doing enough to protect minors at the platform. Those new measures from Meta and Snapchat are all the time a welcome transfer, particularly within the face of accelerating crime in opposition to kids.

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