Snapchat New Measures to Protect Nude Teens

Snapchat gives its users a sense of security in believing their images or video messages will simply disappear after being seen, yet teenagers should understand that any form of sexting can have long-term repercussions that impact their future careers, mental health and relationships.

An alarming new scam circulating on Snapchat involves young boys being duped into sending nude photos and videos to cybercriminals who then threaten to publish them to family, friends and the internet unless payment is received immediately. Sextortion has become more prevalent than ever, prompting parents to take measures in order to safeguard their kids from potential victimisation.

Responding to an increase in reports, Snapchat today unveiled new safeguards designed to better protect its teen users. These measures include making it harder for strangers to contact teens via the app, improving education around sexting, cracking down on accounts offering inappropriate content, and more.

Snapchat is encouraging its users to activate settings that make it harder for strangers to learn the age of an account holder, in addition to default settings that restrict who can view and send messages through a user’s account. Together these should help protect children.

Parents should talk to their children about the risks of Snapchat sexting and set limits on phone usage to reduce time spent using apps such as Snapchat – this may reduce sexting significantly and help limit its occurrence. Furthermore, discussing potential social repercussions like blackmailing, cyberbullying and damaged relationships should also be emphasized.