Before you even start reading this article, just go ahead and let that title sink in: Facebook wants you to upload nude photos of yourself so they can “protect” you, really. According to Zuckerberg’s social media giant, the best way to combat revenge porn is to “post intimate pictures of yourself online before anyone else manages to.” 1
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Obviously, people are split on whether or not this is a good idea. But let me promise you that not only did I not enjoy having to upload a selfie to use my Facebook account this weekend but if this policy becomes mandatory, I’m not going to be thrilled on a whole different level. I will be livid.
According to Antigone Davis, Facebook’s head of global safety, Facebook developed the anti-revenge porn system. It uses artificial intelligence to “recognize and block specific images” and is currently being tested it in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.
She said,
“The safety and well-being of the Facebook community is our top priority. As part of our continued efforts to better detect and remove content that violates our community standards, we’re using image matching technology to prevent non-consensual intimate images from being shared on Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Groups and Messenger.”1
Again, to clarify, in order to protect you from having your naked image blasted all over the internet, Facebook wants to you put your naked image on the internet.
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The new system will create a digital fingerprint of a nude picture you send through Messenger and then “automatically block anyone from uploading the same image to the site at a later date”1 but what if you like to take lots of naked images? I guess you are just supposed to send them all to Facebook?
The company promises it won’t store the pics and that only Facebook’s AI will have access to them but do you believe that?
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This seems like absolute folly to me. A lawsuit waiting to happen. We will update you as more info becomes available.
