Snapchat has introduced additional features to protect its users from online harm, especially teenagers.

Since last November, the social network has been sending teens a warning when they receive a message from someone with whom they have no common friends or contacts. Now, it is expanding the feature, allowing users to be alerted with a warning message if they receive a chat from someone who has been blocked or reported by others, or is in an area where the network is unavailable.

The company is also adding new friendship controls, making it harder for strangers to find and add teens. When teens receive a friend request from someone they don’t share friends with, the app will block the request, as well as when someone has a history of accessing Snapchat in areas known for fraudulent activity.

The company says the two updates further its work to respond to a growing trend it’s seeing of “sophisticated sextortion scams, committed by financially motivated bad actors.” The culprits behind these scams are typically located outside the U.S., Snapchat says, and interacting with potential victims across a combination of online platforms.

As part of the new updates, the social network will also send all users periodic reminders to review their account security and privacy settings, and they will only be able to share their location with friends. It is also allowing teens to control who of their friends can view their location. Additionally, it’s improving its blocking tools – blocking a person will now prevent new friend requests from other accounts made on the same device.

Snapchat announced these features after nine Ontario school boards and two private schools filed a lawsuit against the app, TikTok and Meta, alleging that the platforms are disrupting student learning and the education system. According to the school boards, students are experiencing an attention, learning and mental health crisis due to the addictive use of social media, and schools need resources to support programming and student services.