The online world has evolved dramatically over the last several years – both for better and for worse. The transformational power of technology has altered the way we work, play, learn, and connect, and it has also introduced new areas of risk – particularly for teens, young adults, and other vulnerable populations. One such threat is sexual extortion, a particularly egregious, global crime that has intensified across digital spaces over the past few years. 

Sexual extortion typically targets teenagers and young adults, but older adults are not immune. The crime involves deceiving or coercing people into sharing nude or intimate images. Perpetrators then use these images for blackmail. The threat exists primarily in two forms: sexually motivated sextortion—blackmailing someone for more (and more suggestive) photos and videos, and financially motivated sextortion—a newer variant that demands money or something else of value. 

New research shows that, across online platforms, one in five 13-to-24-year-olds (20%) in six countries was threatened with sexual extortion this year, and half (49%) were targeted for such deception. ¹ Sextortion can stem from a number of digital interactions, including sharing intimate photos and videos online, or falling victim to grooming for sexual purposes, catfishing, or account hijacking. 

Snap has been fighting back against sextortion for years now. As part of ongoing legal proceedings, a statement surfaced that suggested Snap was fielding “10,000 user reports of sextortion each month.” Because we’ve seen commentators reference this figure without any true understanding of Snap’s efforts to combat sextortion or the context surrounding the figure, ² we felt it was important to: offer some relevant background; provide an update on detection, reports received, and submissions made to authorities; and offer a further glimpse into the many ways Snap is working to tackle this very real threat that exists for both minors and adults across online platforms and services. 

Our focus today

First, we want to underscore Snap’s commitment to thwarting this deceitful and pernicious crime. We work diligently to help protect all users on Snapchat; develop and employ techniques to proactively detect and disrupt motivated offenders; invest in awareness-raising and educational efforts – both our own and by promoting others’ campaigns; ³ and we support law enforcement in their efforts to identify and punish criminals. (More on this work below.)

Along with aggressively targeting sexual contact and content generally, to date in 2026, Snap has been enforcing against some 220 instances of suspected sextortion per day, or around 6,600 per month globally. These include instances involving community members of any age that Snap proactively identifies, as well as those from user reports of alleged violations of our Community Guidelines. Users often report by leveraging a dedicated option in our in-app reporting menu that we added in 2023 to encourage reporting of this specific type of exploitation. “They leaked / are threatening to leak my nudes” was suggested by outside experts because its plain language would resonate with users of all ages. Reports from users are vital across platforms and particularly on private messaging services; they help protect the entire community from bad actors.

While certain commentators insinuate that the scale of Snap’s enforcements suggests the company isn’t doing enough, that claim omits critical context. The fact is: the numbers are what they are because Snap is doing a significant amount to uncover and combat sextortion and other forms of sexual exploitation and abuse. We feel, of course, that even one case of sexual exploitation of any user is one too many. Yet, as we've sadly noted, these crimes—particularly against minors—are a societal scourge that has existed long before the internet, and predators will employ whatever means available to attempt to gain access to targets and potential victims.  

Indeed, unfortunately, as with any population, online or in the physical world, there will always be a portion intent on exploiting or causing potential harm to others. While U.S. law does not require companies like Snap to attempt to proactively root out sexual exploitation, Snap has chosen to fight back against this illegal and vile behavior precisely because it is abhorrent. We are determined to make Snapchat a hostile environment for such activity that is illegal or violates our policies.

Industry’s efforts 

It’s also important to consider these enforcements in light of industry’s efforts overall. In 2025, the most recent year for which annual, industry-wide data is available, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received 21.3M reports of suspected child sexual exploitation and abuse. (NCMEC serves as a clearinghouse for reports of suspected sexual exploitation of those under 18. Snap works with StopNCII to help thwart the spread of non-consensual intimate imagery of individuals aged 18 and older.) Last year, NCMEC said it received 80,000 reports concerning sextortion of a minor, and an average of 137 reports specifically of financial sextortion a day–a 37% increase compared to 2024. A majority of the 21.3M total submissions (21.18M) came from electronic service providers (ESPs), while the remainder (170,000) were made by the general public. More than 2,000 ESPs are registered to report to NCMEC, yet more than 75% of last year’s total number of CyberTips came from just five companies. 

In 2025, Snap submitted approximately 752,000 CyberTips to NCMEC, down from more than 1.17M the year before, making it the seventh most prolific reporter in 2024. That total included approximately 19,000 CyberTips for sextortion, along with more than 86,000 reports for online enticement and grooming (down from nearly 29,000 and 194,000 submissions, respectively, last year). ⁴ The reduction in the number of reports from 2024 coincides with a now two-year effort working with NCMEC and others to improve the value and actionability of our CyberTips. More information on that work can be found here. 

CyberTips are the most common means law enforcement uses to track down child sex offenders. And, while Snap’s enforcement actions represent meaningful progress to combat sextortion and are impactful, they’re a small part of our overall work and commitment to tackling child sexual exploitation and abuse. 

More on our work

As noted, to help protect Snapchat users and the integrity of our service, we take a number of steps to search for such material. To help identify users whose behavior suggests suspicious or unusual activity, we use our own proactive detection techniques, which are regularly evaluated and refined. When we identify users who appear to be engaged in sextortion or related misconduct, we act quickly to disable their accounts, take steps to prevent them from creating new ones and, where appropriate, report them to authorities.

Through in-app warnings and other tools, we strive to alert our community to potentially suspicious friend requests. We offer sextortion-specific in-app awareness-raising and educational resources, and we routinely add new functionality to our suite of parental-supervision tools known as Family Center. And, last year, we launched an interactive online safety learning program, called The Keys, designed specifically for teens and their families, which includes a dedicated module on sexual extortion. The Keys leverages the “drivers’ education model” whereby teens learn critical skills both in the classroom and behind the wheel. The program, available to all, including non-Snapchat users, offers teens and their caregivers greater awareness of this and other online risks, and suggestions for how to respond if they encounter it.

Going forward 

Eliminating the sextortion risk before it can even surface remains a primary goal, but this is a whole-of-society issue requiring active, ongoing engagement from a range of stakeholders and sectors. We remain open to new strategies and approaches, and welcome the opportunity to work with individuals or groups willing to engage positively and productively to help mitigate online risk, reduce harm, and prevent recurrence – on Snapchat and across the digital ecosystem. Indeed, there are constructive roles for technology companies, government, law enforcement, parents, caregivers, educators, young people themselves – and even authors and commentators. 

— Jacqueline Beauchere, Global Head of Platform Safety, Snap Inc.