Meta To Blur Instagram Images Containing Nudity To Protect Teens

Meta revealed in a newsroom post that it is testing new features to help protect young people from sextortion and intimate image abuse. Specifically, it will blur Instagram images containing nudity. Also, the company is making it more difficult for potential scammers and criminals to find and interact with teens.

“These updates build on our longstanding work to help protect young people from unwanted or potentially harmful contact,” Meta explained. “We default teens into stricter message settings so they can’t be messaged by anyone they’re not already connected to, show Safety Notices to teens who are already in contact with potential scam accounts, and offer a dedicated option for people to report DMs that are threatening to share private images.”

Meta revealed that it is working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in developing Take It Down, a platform that lets young people take back control of their intimate images and helps prevent them from being shared online. This takes power away from scammers, who may use these sensitive images to extort money from victims or shame them to their families and friends.

We’re testing new features to help protect young people from sextortion scams and encourage them to say no to sharing anything that makes them feel uncomfortable.https://t.co/GxBpXW9OOQ

— Meta Newsroom (@MetaNewsroom) April 11, 2024

The company will address this problem head-on by testing a “nudity protection feature” in Instagram DMs. It blurs images detected as containing nudity and encourages users to think twice before sending nude photos to either someone they know or someone they don’t know.

This new feature will not only offer a layer of protection to users but also protect Meta customers from those who send them nude images and ask for nude photos in return. Nudity protection will be turned on by default for teens under 18 globally. Meta will also show a notification to adults that will encourage them to turn it on.

When the tool is turned on, a warning message will appear that the image contains nudity, and users can choose whether or not to view it. Meta is also adding messages encouraging users not to feel pressured to respond, with an option to block the sender and report the chat.

Finally, when sending or receiving these images, people will be directed to safety tips warning about the potential risks. These tips include reminders that people may screenshot or forward these images without consent and that they should review a profile carefully before exchanging any pictures or information with someone they do not know.