Technology news and discussion on TalkFuse.
Young men report more ‘sextortion’ than any other age group, Australia’s online safety watchdog says
Australia’s online safety regulator says young men aged 18 to 24 are reporting more cases of sexual extortion than any other age group, while warnings are also growing about teenagers being increasingly targeted. The report argues that major technology companies are still not doing enough to prevent this abuse, despite having access to tools that could detect coercive behaviour earlier. That matters because sextortion can quickly escalate into blackmail, emotional harm and child sexual exploitation across multiple services.
Between July and December 2025, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner received 2,206 sextortion complaints, including about 800 from men aged 18 to 24. Instagram and WhatsApp were mentioned in more than 1,300 complaints combined, while iMessage and Snapchat were most commonly linked to cases involving under-18s. The regulator found major gaps in platforms’ use of language-analysis tools and live-streaming detection systems, with Microsoft the only company reported to be using both; Julie Inman Grant said companies should be doing far more, and academic Joanne Gray criticised their mainly reactive approach.
In short
- Young men reported the most sextortion cases in Australia
- eSafety says platforms still have serious safety gaps
- Teenagers are also increasingly being targeted
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Tech platforms host sextortion at scale and possess tools that can detect coercive language and predatory patterns. Given that this crime causes demonstrable psychological harm, leads to blackmail, and increasingly targets minors, companies have both the technical capacity and ethical responsibility to deploy these existing safeguards more comprehensively rather than maintaining primarily reactive approaches that leave vulnerable users unprotected.
The case against
Whilst sextortion is a serious crime, deploying aggressive automated detection of coercive language raises legitimate privacy concerns and risks substantial false-positive rates that could restrict ordinary conversations and user trust. Given that this represents a relatively small fraction of overall platform activity and law enforcement bears primary responsibility for prosecution, companies might reasonably prioritise other harms and direct educational campaigns over expansive detection systems that could compromise user privacy.
Explained simply
Sextortion is when someone threatens to share intimate images unless a person pays money or complies with demands. It is an increasingly common form of online abuse with potential for severe emotional and financial harm, and in serious cases can escalate into blackmail and further sexual exploitation.
Young people are particularly vulnerable to sextortion, with young men aged 18 to 24 reporting high numbers of incidents in Australia, though teenagers are increasingly at risk as well. These scams typically start on social media and messaging platforms, where offenders can reach victims easily and operate with relative anonymity.
Australia's online safety regulator has raised concerns that technology companies have detection tools available but are not using them effectively enough to prevent sextortion. This matters because early intervention could protect vulnerable people before these scams cause serious damage, and there remains a significant gap between the prevention measures companies could implement and what they are currently doing.