A study published by the University of Bristol and the Marie Collins Foundation found that one in five teenagers aged 13 to 17 in the UK has experienced image-based sexual abuse, including being pressured to send intimate images, having images shared without consent or receiving unsolicited explicit content. Researchers emphasise that abuse frequently begins on mainstream social platforms and migrates to encrypted messaging apps, with many victims reluctant to report incidents to adults or authorities.
When a young person is coerced into sharing explicit material or receives hostile image requests, the window for intervention exists in the conversation itself before images are sent or distributed. Anti-sextortion and anti-CSAM filters that operate within direct messaging infrastructure can detect coercive language, image solicitation patterns and distribution threats as they develop, alerting a parent or safeguarding lead in time to prevent escalation. Backed by Startmate and deployed across Instagram, Snapchat, Discord and Roblox, Guardii closes the gap the Bristol research identifies: the reluctance to report becomes less critical when the threat is automatically surfaced to a responsible adult at the moment of contact.
