A sexual exploitation watchdog group is calling out Teen Vogue and Snapchat after posts made by the magazine encouraged teens to sext while in self-isolation.

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCSE) says that the magazine aimed at teens, "posted a Snapchat Discover story about sexting under the guise of helping teenagers sustain their relationships from a distance."

The NCSE says that encouraging teenagers to do so is tantamount to encouraging teens to create child pornography.

"Encouraging teens to sext is encouraging minors to create and distribute child pornography, which is more accurately referred to as child sex abuse material (CSAM). Also, online predators use social media platforms to pose as peers and groom children to send them sexually explicit material (i.e. 'sext' with them) that they can then distribute and/or use to blackmail the child into other forms of sexual exploitation."

The watchdog says that such a post would be concerning at any time, but they say that in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis the FBI has already warned that young people are at an even increased risk of online predators.

"Research shows that sexting is often linked to offline sexual coercion," the NCSE says. "Additionally, sexting and the sending of sexually explicit material via social media apps can lead teens to be sexually extorted, abused, and even trafficked. In this time of uncertainty, when kids will likely find themselves online more frequently, predators are poised to capitalize on increased opportunities to target young adolescents. Research also suggests that young adolescents who practice sexting experience other harmful effects including feelings of terror, stress, difficulty concentrating, and isolation."

NCSE has called for Teen Vogue to post a retraction, and for Snapchat to stop allowing third parties to make such posts.