Australia’s online safety regulator has identified major shortcomings in the way leading technology companies respond to online sexual extortion and child sexual exploitation, warning that reports of such abuse continue to increase.
The findings, contained in eSafety’s latest transparency report, assessed the efforts of major platforms including Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft, Snap, Discord and WhatsApp to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse on their services.
According to the regulator, it received more than 2,000 reports of sexual extortion between July and December 2025. Men aged 18 to 24 accounted for the highest number of complaints, with about 800 reports, while the agency noted that teenagers are increasingly becoming targets.
Sexual extortion, commonly known as “sextortion”, is a form of online blackmail in which perpetrators threaten to release intimate images or videos of a victim unless they comply with demands, which often involve money or additional explicit content.
Instagram and WhatsApp were the platforms most frequently mentioned in complaints, together accounting for more than 1,300 reports of sexual extortion. Among users under the age of 18, Apple’s iMessage and Snapchat were the services most commonly associated with sextortion threats.
The regulator also highlighted examples of threatening messages sent by offenders to victims, including: “I have everything to ruin your life,” “Only money can help you now to end this peacefully,” and “Do you want me to delete your video scandal?”
According to eSafety, the mandatory safety reports submitted by technology companies exposed ongoing weaknesses in how platforms detect and prevent child sexual exploitation and abuse, pointing to what it described as “persistent safety gaps” in online safety measures.
The regulator said the findings revealed significant shortcomings in the use of existing detection technologies, including language analysis tools capable of identifying common coercive tactics used by perpetrators of sexual extortion.
The report also highlighted a lack of proactive safeguards for live streaming features, noting that most platforms do not have effective systems to detect abuse during video calls or live broadcasts.
Microsoft was the only company to report using both language analysis and live-stream detection technologies.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the findings indicate that technology companies have yet to implement adequate measures to address the problem, despite the availability of tools capable of improving detection and prevention efforts.
“Offenders are continuing to exploit gaps in platform design, weak detection systems and inconsistent safeguards to move seamlessly between services and escalate harm against children,” she said.
“This report shows that platforms could and should be doing a lot more to prevent these harms and there are simple steps they can take today to protect users.”
