Thorn Sextortion

“Sexual Extortion & Young People”

Full subtitle on cover: 'Navigating Threats in Digital Environments'.

“In total, 1,200 young people from across the United States participated in an 18-minute online survey from September 27, 2024, to October 7, 2024.”

“JUNE 2025”

Published June 2025.

“an 18-minute online survey from September 27, 2024, to October 7, 2024.”

September 27 – October 7, 2024.

“In total, 1,200 young people from across the United States participated in an 18-minute online survey from September 27, 2024, to October 7, 2024.”

Full survey n=1,200. The app-specific threat-delivery follow-up has n=267 (Figure 22, p.31).

“The term “teens” specifies respondents aged 13-17, while “young adults””

Ages 13–20; the report describes the sample as 64% teens aged 13–17 and 36% young adults aged 18–20. Older respondents report experiences before age 18.

“To ensure a nationwide representative sample was obtained, data was weighted by age, gender, race, and geography based on U.S. Census data.”

Non-probability online recruitment; minors recruited via caregivers (consent required), 18–20 self-consenting. Weighted to U.S. Census benchmarks.

“QB1. [IF 18-20: While you were under the age of 18, had; IF 13-17: Has] anyone ever threatened to share a sexual image of you with another person or post it online in order to make you do something? By sexual image, we mean a picture or video (real or fake) that shows you nude or mostly nude.…” “threatened to share a sexual image of you with another person or post it online in order to make you do something”Response options: Yes / Prefer not to say / No

QB1 asks about threats to share real or fake sexual imagery of the respondent to make them do something. Respondents aged 18–20 are asked only about experiences before age 18.

“Platforms and apps sextortionists used to communicate threats to victims”

QS18b-e (Figure 22, p.31) identifies 33 named apps used to communicate sextortion threats, among 267 respondents reporting a technology-mediated experience before age 18. The “Other” category is excluded. This measures the channel of threat delivery, not prevalence among each app’s users.

“QS18b-e. You indicated this person made threats to you using private messaging apps/social media platforms/gaming apps/dating or hookup apps. Which of these did the person use to send you the threats?…” “Platforms and apps sextortionists used to communicate threats to victims”

QS18b-e follows the technology categories in QS18a (Figure 21, p.30), with n=267. It identifies the threat-delivery channel, which may differ from where imagery was obtained or shared. The report does not give app-user denominators.