Combating Sextortion and Intimate Image Abuse: How Meta Protects Users and How You Can Take Action

Sextortion is a serious crime in which someone threatens to reveal a personal intimate image unless the victim complies with demands such as sending money, more images, or engaging in sexual contact. Sharing, or threatening to share, intimate images without consent violates Meta's policies, and no one should have to endure this form of exploitation. Recognizing these threats is the first step toward protecting yourself and others from harm.

Meta maintains strict rules against content and behavior that exploit people, including the sharing or threatening to share someone's intimate images. Users are encouraged to report violating content, and a dedicated reporting option exists for private images. Meta has built specialized teams and automated systems that identify behavioral patterns linked to sextortion and remove offending accounts at scale. When appropriate, these teams report criminals to authorities, including law enforcement and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Meta also works with partners such as NCMEC and the International Justice Mission to train law enforcement worldwide to identify, investigate, and respond to these cases.

Protecting people from sextortion starts with limiting unwanted contact, particularly between adults and teens. Teen accounts under 16 (and under 18 in certain countries) are automatically set to private when they join Instagram, and people a teen doesn't follow cannot tag or mention them or include their content in Reels Remixes or Guides by default. Private accounts also hide friend and follow lists, which predators could otherwise exploit. Adults over 18 are restricted from starting private chats with teens they are not connected to on Instagram and Messenger. Message requests from non-connected users are limited to text-only until the recipient accepts, and stricter default message settings for teens under 16 (and under 18 in certain countries) prevent anyone they don't follow or aren't connected to from messaging them or adding them to group chats. Technology also helps identify potentially suspicious adults, prevents them from finding or interacting with teen accounts, and keeps teen accounts out of their recommendations.

Meta educates teens when they interact with certain adults. Teens are notified when a potentially suspicious account attempts to follow them, prompting greater caution. Proactive safety notices appear within messages when an adult showing suspicious behavior is interacting with young users. For example, if an adult sends a large number of friend requests to people under 18, recipients are alerted and given options to block, report, or restrict that adult.

Meta has worked for years with expert organizations to combat sextortion worldwide. In 2017 it launched Stop Sextortion with Thorn, adapting those resources into more than 60 additional languages on its Safety Center, and later partnered with Thorn's NoFiltr brand on educational materials that reduce stigma and encourage teens to seek help. Meta is a founding member of Lantern, a Tech Coalition program that lets technology companies share signals about accounts and behaviors that violate child safety policies; Meta provides the program's technical infrastructure. Meta also supports StopNCII.org's Global Network of more than 100 victim advocates and nonprofits that run prevention campaigns and assist survivors. Because predators operate across multiple platforms, these collaborations are essential.

Instagram and Facebook are founding members of Take It Down, an NCMEC platform that proactively helps young people prevent intimate images, including AI-generated content, from spreading online. Meta funded its development, building on StopNCII.org, a platform Meta developed to help adults stop the spread of their intimate images. Both tools are accessible directly from Meta's apps when users report potentially violating content. Users can also control their own experience by choosing who can message them and blocking anyone they do not want to hear from, and teens are prompted to report at relevant moments, such as when blocking someone. Meta has developed more than 30 safety tools and features, including supervision tools for parents and guardians.

You can report nude or sexual photos or videos of yourself, as well as threats to share them, on Meta's apps and technologies to help prevent resharing. Meta's teams review reports 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in more than 70 languages, and act on violating content and behavior. Reporting is available on Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Messenger, and WhatsApp.

If you have a nude or sexual image of yourself taken when you were over 18, you can use StopNCII.org. The tool assigns a unique hash, a numerical code acting as a secure digital fingerprint, to your image without uploading the image itself. Participating tech companies receive this hash and can detect and block attempts to share the image on their platforms. Meta is also beginning to securely share hashes of non-consensual intimate images it has removed with other companies through StopNCII.org, which can help prevent resharing even if the image was never uploaded to the tool beforehand. Adults should still create a case at StopNCII.org as this cross-industry effort is phased in. If the image was taken when you were under 18, use TakeItDown.NCMEC.org. Teens, parents or trusted adults acting on a teen's behalf, and adults concerned about images taken when they were minors can all use this service. Like StopNCII.org, it creates a private hash value so the image never leaves your device, and companies can use those hashes to block the content from being posted.

Anyone seeking support or information about sextortion can visit Meta's Safety Center, which includes Stop Sextortion resources developed with Thorn. These resources outline immediate steps to take if you or a friend are affected and offer expert tips for teens, parents, and guardians. Crisis support is also available through the Safety Center. Remember that sextortion is a crime, and you are not to blame for being targeted. Reaching out for help, reporting the threat, and using prevention tools can help you regain control and stop further harm.