In a major crackdown on online sexual extortion, commonly known as sextortion, Meta has removed thousands of Facebook accounts tied to these malicious activities. Sextortion involves deceiving individuals into sharing explicit images online and then threatening to release these images unless the victim either pays money or engages in sexual acts.
Recent cases of sextortion have garnered significant attention, including incidents involving Nigerian brothers who admitted to sexually extorting young men and teens in Michigan—one of whom tragically took his own life. Another notable case involved a sheriff’s deputy from Virginia who sexually extorted and abducted a 15-year-old girl.
According to Meta, there has been a noticeable increase in sextortion cases, partly driven by a loosely organized group known as the Yahoo Boys, predominantly operating from Nigeria. Meta has taken action by removing Facebook accounts and groups associated with this network under its “dangerous organizations and individuals” policy.
In response to a January warning from the FBI about a “significant rise” in sextortion cases targeting children, Meta’s investigation revealed that most of the scams primarily targeted adult men in the U.S. However, some attempts were directed at minors, prompting Meta to report these cases to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Meta disclosed that the removed accounts were part of a “coordinated network” comprising approximately 2,500 accounts managed by around 20 individuals. In April, Meta announced new safety features for Instagram aimed at safeguarding young users from sexual extortion. These include an automatic nudity-blurring feature in direct messages. These new tools are part of Meta’s ongoing effort to combat sexual scams and other forms of “image abuse,” making it harder for offenders to exploit teenagers online.