In a blog post on its website, social media giant Meta noted that they recently purged over 63,000 Nigerian Instagram accounts they believe were involved in online sextortion rackets.
Sextortion is a form of blackmail, in which targets are lured into romantic correspondence with a fake individual and then blackmailed with the threat of publicising the private and often explicit content they shared.
Sextortion is a growing concern in the digital space, often due to the emotional and psychological toll the scheme can take on victims, often being similar in nature to revenge porn. The tech giant has focused on this issue specifically after a teenager in Scotland committed suicide as a result of an Instagram sextortion scheme earlier this year.
Instagram’s response
Meta has faced significant scrutiny over user safety and the removal of these accounts is a part of the platform's ongoing efforts to combat online harassment and abuse. By leveraging advanced AI toolkits and user reporting mechanisms, Instagram has been able to identify and disable thousands of accounts perpetrating sextortion that were all operating from Nigeria.
Nigeria's expansive online user base has unfortunately made it a hotspot for cybercrime, ranging from the classic ‘Nigerian Prince’ scam to more advanced crypto frauds. Artificial intelligence played a pivotal role in Instagram's strategy to detect and act against policy violation, by analysing patterns, flagging suspicious activities, and using this data to identify other accounts that may be used in similar schemes.
The company said it also took down 5,700 Facebook groups in which scammers were offering tips on how to scam people.
Educating the online community
Awareness is a powerful tool in preventing sextortion. Instagram and other stakeholders are now much more openly publicising resources and toolkits to assist individuals who have been a victim of this crime. Meta’s action in Nigeria will hopefully be a significant step towards combating sextortion and highlights the importance of a dynamic approach to addressing online exploitation.