Snapchat is rolling out new safety tools aimed at protecting teens from sextortion

Snapchat is introducing new safety features to protect teenagers from exploitation scams and sextortion. The updates include expanded warning pop-ups when teens receive messages from unfamiliar contacts, as well as warnings for blocked or reported users and those from different regions. Snapchat will also prevent the delivery of friend requests between teens and accounts without mutual friends, particularly from regions associated with scammers. These measures aim to combat financial sextortion, where scammers manipulate young users into sending explicit photos and demand payment to keep them secret. The company is enhancing its blocking tools and increasing reminders about location settings on its Snap Map feature.