Meta, the owner of the social network Instagram, announced this Thursday new measures to protect young people from blackmail with intimate photographs, as the platforms increasingly come under scrutiny in Europe and the United States for the protection of minors.
In the coming months, the social network will introduce “nudity controls” by default for minors’ accounts, which will blur sexually explicit images sent through Instagram messages but will also limit interactions between young users and accounts identified as possible blackmailers.
“In this way, the recipient is not exposed to unwanted exposure to intimate content and has the opportunity to choose whether to see the image or not,” Capucine Tuffier, head of child protection at Meta France, explained to Agence France Presse (AFP).
Information messages about sexual blackmail through photos, also called “sextortion”, will be sent simultaneously to the sender and recipient of the images, reminding them that such sensitive content may lead to screenshotting and sharing of information by attackers. .
“It’s about reducing the creation and distribution of these types of images,” sums up Tuffier.
Moreover, when Meta’s AI tools identify an account as a potential source of this type of blackmail, its interaction with underage users will be severely limited.
A possible criminal account would not be able, for example, to send private messages to a minor’s account, would not have access to the full list of its subscribers, and minors’ accounts would no longer appear in searches, Capucin Tuffier explained.
Meta will also warn young users if they come into contact with a potential blackmailer.
The minor will then be redirected to a website dedicated to the issue – Stop Sextortion – and will have access to a telephone helpline in collaboration with the associations.
These new measures will be tested from May in several countries in Central and Latin America before being rolled out globally.
Meta, accused in the US and France of harming the mental health of teenagers, already announced in January the first set of measures to improve protection for younger users.
Among them is one that now requires minor users to have explicit permission from their parents to change their account from private to public, access content considered “sensitive”, or be able to receive messages from people they do not already follow. on the platform. .
The European Commission has launched separate investigations into Meta, Snap (Snapchat), TikTok and YouTube regarding measures to protect the “physical and mental health” of minors.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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