Prior to the introduction, Jacqueline Beauchere, Snap’s Global Head of Platform Safety, gave an exclusive statement to CNN stating, “These features were designed to better protect teens from potential online harms and to enhance the real-friend connections that make Snapchat so unique.”
Law enforcement agencies have issued warnings in recent years about a rise in online sextortion schemes, when malevolent individuals, usually residing abroad, prey on adolescents and teenagers, frequently using identities that seem to be those of kind peers. Sextortion has occasionally led to suicide.
In an effort to curb financial sextortion, Meta in April also unveiled new capabilities that will alert users when they come into contact with someone who has engaged in this practice. Additionally, earlier this year, a Senate subcommittee hearing was held when the CEOs of Meta and Snap, along with other prominent figures in the social media industry, were asked to testify about their efforts to safeguard youth from online exploitation.
