Is social media a curse? As the UK government launches a new awareness campaign about social media blackmailers, some think our online lives have now become a living nightmare.
Alert to teachers over ‘sextortion' epidemic
Is social media a curse? As the UK government launches a new awareness campaign about social media blackmailers, some think our online lives have now become a living nightmare.
The first mobile phone to have a camera built into it was the SCH-V200, manufactured by Samsung in the year 2000.1 They could never have foreseen how much harm this simple decision would end up doing to some vulnerable people.
This week the National Crime AgencyA UK national law enforcement agency. It targets organised crime, trafficking, cybercrime and economic crime. (NCA) has issued a new alert to teachers all over the country about "sextortion". This is where criminals persuade their victim to send them nude pictures. They then blackmailDemanding payment (or another action) from someone in return for not revealing damaging information about them. them into paying to have the images deleted.
Cases of this crime rose by 257% last year. Men make up 91% of the victims in these cases, and the criminals are especially likely to target teenage boys.2
The targets are often scared that their lives will be ruined. Tragically, some have even taken their own lives as a result.
Which is why the government is stressing that being the victim of sextortion is not the end of your world. Everyone makes mistakes. There is no shame in being taken in.
The important thing to remember, according to the NCA, is: do not pay what they are asking for. Just block them. Do not delete anything. And report it to the police. They will be able to help you.
The warning has some asking if social media has become a blightA common plant disease, typically caused by fungi. on society. It has given criminals access to us that they could never have dreamt of in the past.
And even if we are not targeted by extortioners it can ruin our minds. One study shows that one in four members of Gen ZShort for Generation Z, meaning people born in the late 1990s and early 2000s. believe social media is bad for their mental health.3
And this is especially bad for younger women, who are more likely to report low self-esteem as a result of time spent on social media.4
But others say this is overstated. For some, it becomes a second chance to have a social life.
This is especially true for people who might face rejection from their real-life community, like LGBTStands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. The initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. people.5
Is social media a curse?
Yes: Social media is a channel from the outside world straight into our brains. It has made us vulnerable like never before to scams and it is destroying our mental health.
No: Scammers have always preyed on us, whatever technology they might have at our disposal. We cannot put the genie back in the bottle: we have to learn to live in the world social media has created.
Or... Social media is neither good nor bad in itself: what matters is how we use it. There should be much more education on how to use social media in a responsible way.
National Crime Agency - A UK national law enforcement agency. It targets organised crime, trafficking, cybercrime and economic crime.
Blackmail - Demanding payment (or another action) from someone in return for not revealing damaging information about them.
Blight - A common plant disease, typically caused by fungi.
Gen Z - Short for Generation Z, meaning people born in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
LGBT - Stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. The initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
Alert to teachers over ‘sextortion’ epidemic

Glossary
National Crime Agency - A UK national law enforcement agency. It targets organised crime, trafficking, cybercrime and economic crime.
Blackmail - Demanding payment (or another action) from someone in return for not revealing damaging information about them.
Blight - A common plant disease, typically caused by fungi.
Gen Z - Short for Generation Z, meaning people born in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
LGBT - Stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. The initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.