Sextortion is a serious and sometimes deadly crime that has increased more than 300% in the past couple of years – and most of it is happening on Instagram. As this crime spreads on their platform, Instagram’s response is getting worse. By not taking sextortion seriously, Instagram is putting thousands of kids at risk of exploitation, abuse, and even death.

Sextortion is a crime where a predator blackmails a victim over sexual or nude images – for money, more images, or something else of value. Teens are the most common victims of sextortion, and predators often initiate contact by pretending to be a peer and asking to exchange sexual images. The #1 place this happens online: Instagram.

Recent analysis of data from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) by Thorn found Instagram was the #1 platform where sextortionists meet kids, as well as the top platform where these predators threaten to share and actually share the images of the kids they are blackmailing. As the top social media platform for sextortion, Instagram should be investing in preventing and reporting this crime. They’re not.

Read more here and TAKE ACTION! Help us protect children online. #endmetasextortion