Instagram announced on Thursday that it will be rolling out a series of new security features to protect users from sexting scammers. Most notably, the company will no longer allow people to take screenshots or record ephemeral images or videos sent in private messages.
Previously, people could take screenshots of ephemeral content in Instagram DMs, but they would be notified that you saved them. With this change, if you use the View Once or Allow Replay feature to send a photo or video to someone via DM, they won't be able to save the content. In addition, Instagram does not allow users to open "view once" or "allow replay" images or videos on their desktops to ensure that users cannot circumvent security measures;
By preventing users from taking screenshots of ephemeral content, Instagram goes one step further than Snapchat in keeping ephemeral content safe. On Snapchat, if you send someone a picture, they can take a screenshot. While Snapchat notifies users that their pictures have been saved, the app doesn't do anything to stop users from taking screenshots of ephemeral content.
Instagram, on the other hand, is making sure that content that is only allowed to be viewed once can actually only be viewed once.
The social network owned by Meta says the new features released today are in addition to the recently launched Teen account.
With a teen account, young users won't be able to receive messages from anyone they don't follow or connect with, but they will still be able to receive follow requests from anyone. Now, Instagram is making it harder for suspicious accounts, such as recently created ones, to request to follow teens.
Depending on how suspicious the account's fraud is, Instagram blocks the follow request completely or sends it to the teen's spam folder.
The app will also roll out safety tips in DMs to let teens know how safe they are when talking to people who may be living in different countries. The company says it does this because sexting scammers often lie about where they live in order to trick teens into trusting them;
Since sextortion scammers often exploit teens' followers and follower lists to blackmail them, Instagram will block accounts describing the scam from viewing people's followers and follower lists. These accounts will also not be able to see who has liked whose posts, or see photos of themselves that they have been tagged in.
In addition, Instagram will roll out nude protection across the globe after it began testing nude protection in April. This security measure will automatically blur images that contain nudity in the DM. The feature will be enabled by default for teen users. As for the sender, Instagram will warn them about the risks of sending intimate photos.
To provide more support in its app, Instagram is partnering with the Crisis Text Line in the United States. Users will now be presented with the option to speak to a crisis counselor when they report an issue related to child safety or pornography.
The changes come ten months after Instagram and other major social networks were accused by lawmakers of not doing enough to protect young users on their platforms.
As part of its efforts to combat sexting, Instagram will begin broadcasting educational videos about sexting scammers to teen users in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. The social network will also work with influencers such as Bella Poarch and Brent Rivera to produce content on identifying sexting and what to do if such an incident occurs.