What the Tech: Teenagers who put nude photos online can now get them removed
By JAMIE TUCKER Consumer Technology Reporter
One of the most disturbing and dangerous scams in the entire online world is “Sextortion.”
It’s when an online criminal, posing as an attractive young person, entices another child into taking and sharing nude photos of themselves.
The criminal then threatens to share those photos with the victim’s family and friends on social media unless they send either more nude photos or money.
It’s a crime that’s been blamed on several teen and pre-teen suicides in recent years as the victim is too ashamed to report it and feels trapped with no way out.
Social media companies such as Meta, TikTok, and Snap are partnering with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to use an online tool called “Take It Down”.
“Take it Down was created in response to those concerns,” explains NCMEC’s Kathryn Rifenbark. “So that children who are experiencing some type of sextortion or online enticement, have the ability to get help with removing photos and videos online anonymously”.
“Take it Down” allows victims to mark photos for removal from internet platforms by visiting a website: www.takeitdown.ncmec.org
“It will direct them to point to that picture or video on their phone or computer,” Rifenbark explains.
“It’s not going to upload that picture to the national center, no one is going to be able to recreate that picture using the hash value.”
The photo or video never leaves their device or computer. It’s completely private.
A hash value is a string of numbers and letters that is unique to each image file. It’s like a digital fingerprint. By reporting that unique string of characters, social platforms will see that it has been flagged and can remove it and block it from being shared.
“We want kids to know there is assistance available for them if they find themselves in this situation. And they have been pressured to take that picture,” Rifenbark said.
Sextortion has been linked to many teen suicides in recent years because victims, usually 14-17-year-olds, are too embarrassed to report it and feel like there’s no way out. “Take it Down” is a tool that can save lives.
