The first mobile phone to have a camera built into it was the SCH-V200, manufactured by Samsung in the year 2000.¹ Other manufacturers quickly got in on the act: who wouldn't want to be able to take photos and send them immediately to their friends?

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 or semi-nude pictures. They then blackmail them into paying to have the images deleted.

It often takes place over photo-messaging apps like Snapchat, although it can be on any app or site with a messaging function. Because it is so easy to take a photo and send it on the spot, the extortioners can go from seducing their target to blackmailing them in as little as an hour.

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 scams can be very sophisticated. Even people who are on their guard have been caught out.

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 UK government is stressing that being the victim of sextortion is not the end of your world. Everyone makes mistakes and lots of people have made this one. 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: it could all be useful evidence for bringing them to justice. 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.

Dating apps and messaging apps have given criminals access to us that they could never have dreamt of in the past.

And even if we are not targeted by extortioners, some say these apps 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 spending a lot of time on social media is bad for their mental health.³

This is especially the case for younger women, who are more likely to report low self-esteem as a result of time spent on social media.⁴ 

Experts think this is because we use social media to project an idealisedSee in a perfect way; as better than the reality. version of ourselves. This makes everyone else feel inadequate in comparison, and it stresses us out as we try to live up to the impossible version of ourselves that others see.

But others say this is overstated. For many people, especially young people who might not have a lot of friends in real life, social media is a boon.

It gives them a chance to find like-minded people all over the world to talk to about what interests them. For some, it becomes a second chance to have a social life.

This is especially true for people who might be rejected by their real-life community. For example, 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. young people often report that it was online communities that gave them a sense of self and boosted their self-esteem.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.

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.

Idealised - See in a perfect way; as better than the reality.

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.