An online safety regulator has said that tech giants need to do more to combat sextortion (sexual extortion), naming Apple, Meta and Google among the companies who need to do better.
Victims of sexual blackmail tend to be younger, including children below the age of 16 …
A typical sextortion attack involves impersonating someone of the same age as the victim, engaging in online flirtation. The attacker at some point sends explicit photos claiming to be of them, and encouraging the victim to reciprocate.
If the victim does indeed send photos in return, the attacker threatens to expose them online, often saying they will use social media to send copies to family and friends unless paid to delete them.
TNW reports that Australia’s online safety regulator, eSafety, says tech giants are not doing enough to detect these attacks.
