INTERNET SAFETY DAY: META UNVEILS INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO ASSIST ADOLESCENTS IN AVOIDING SEXTORTION SCAMS

Meta has collaborated with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to extend the Take It Down initiative to additional nations and languages, empowering millions more adolescents to manage their intimate content.

Meta has also joined forces with Thorn to enhance the Stop Sextortion hub, providing fresh tips and resources for teens, parents, and educators on preventing and dealing with sextortion.

Meta is backing safety organizations and content creators worldwide to increase awareness of sextortion scams and educate teens and parents on reclaiming control.

The sharing of personal intimate images can be devastating, particularly for young individuals, and threats to share them constitute a crime known as sextortion.

On Safer Internet Day, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is unveiling new measures to combat this criminal activity, including granting more teens control over their intimate images and offering support to teens, parents, and teachers to better resist exploitation. Additionally, Meta is supporting creators and safety organizations globally to raise awareness of sextortion.

Expanding Take It Down to More Languages and Countries:

Take It Down, a program supported by Meta and NCMEC, empowers teens to reclaim control of their intimate images and prevent unauthorized sharing online. Launched last year in English and Spanish, Meta and NCMEC are now expanding it to more countries and languages, making it accessible to millions of teens globally.

Teens, parents, or trusted adults can use Take It Down to find and remove intimate content or prevent its sharing. To maintain privacy and data security, the program utilizes a unique hash, a digital fingerprint assigned to the image or video.

Teens only need to submit the hash, ensuring the content remains on their device securely. Once submitted, Meta and other companies can identify and take down copies of the image.

New Resources for Teens, Parents, and Teachers:

Meta has collaborated with Thorn to provide updated guidance for teens on how to respond to sextortion threats, along with advice for parents and teachers. These resources can be found in Meta’s updated Sextortion hub within the Safety Center.

Kelbi Schnabel, Senior Manager at Thorn, stated that the collaboration with Meta has significantly improved efforts to combat sextortion, emphasizing the importance of collaborative action in addressing complex challenges.

Global Awareness Campaign:

Meta is launching a global campaign to raise awareness about sextortion scams and educate teens and parents. The campaign involves collaborations with safety organizations and creators worldwide.