Sextortion ‘an evil in our society’, says Swinney as police probe Edinburgh case

Scotland’s First Minister has hit out at sextortion plots as “an evil in our society” after it emerged a case involving an eight-year-old is being investigated by police.

Parents in Edinburgh were warned by school officials that someone was impersonating pupils on the social media app Snapchat.

According to the BBC, a parent has warned their eight-year-old daughter was caught up in the plot, which involved someone impersonating her in a bid to obtain videos and pictures of classmates through the app.

Sextortion plots then usually use the images to blackmail victims.

Speaking to journalists in Holyrood on Thursday, First Minister John Swinney said: “This is an evil in our society that can have terrible consequences.”

He said he had previously commented on the sextortion of 16-year-old Murray Dowey from Dunblane, Stirlingshire, which had led to the teenager taking his own life.

Changes to the law will be required at a UK level to protect victims of similar plots, the First Minister said, adding the UK Government has been receptive to talks on the issue.

“I have raised these issues with the UK Government, with Secretary of State Peter Kyle,” he said.

“I found Peter Kyle very engaged on this question.

“These are issues that fundamentally will require regulation at UK Government level – of course the issues are much wider than that – but I’m confident the UK Government is engaging constructively with us on addressing this issue because it can have quite terrible consequences for children and young people.”

Several reports have been made to Police Scotland about the circulation of indecent images, the force said.

A spokeswoman said: “An investigation is under way after we received several reports in February 2025 relating to indecent images being shared on an online platform in Edinburgh.

“Inquiries are ongoing and we are working closely with a number of partner agencies.”

Asked if children as young as eight should be using social media apps such as Snapchat, the First Minister said: “No.”

According to the app’s website, users must be at least 13.

A spokesman for the app told the BBC: “Any sexual exploitation of young people is horrific and illegal, and our hearts go out to the victims in this case.

“If we are made aware of such activity, whether through our proactive detection efforts or confidential in-app reporting tools, we remove it, lock the violating account, and report it to authorities.

“Snapchat is for people aged 13 and over and we have extra safeguards in place to prevent strangers from being able to easily find or search for teens.

“Our family centre also lets parents see who their teen is friends with and talking to on Snapchat.”