Facebook has come up with an unusual method of tackling the menace of revenge porn, one that might even seem insane as well. For it is asking its members to upload their own nude images or videos on Messenger so that the social media company can create a hash of those. The same, Facebook would like us to believe, will act to prevent anyone to get along with revenge porn tactics.
The social media company is right now testing the new strategy in Australia where it is working in collaboration with the office of the e-Safety Commissioner to device methods so that revenge porn can be dealt with.
Clarifying on its plans, Facebook said it would hash the image which essentially means creating a digital footprint of the image. It is this digital version that would be stored on its servers and not the actual nudies.
After that, it would be up to the company’s AI tech to prevent anyone from uploading porn depicting the same person. The AI program in use here is again the same that is already in use to identify photos and matching faces. Further, Facebook is asking all its users – at least in Australia for the moment – to comply with the above to deny anyone the chance to post sexually explicit material that the user might be part of.
In fact, Facebook’s idea is to act before time since by posting the nude image the user can have the guarantee of him or her getting saved from being featured in any porn material that might depict them in future. People often capture images or video of their intimate acts either consensually or discreetly. However, there is also the likelihood of the relationship having soured over time, which serves as one of the most likely reason for anyone to publish the same online just to take revenge on the partner.
However, while there is no denying such a plan is a bit too outrageous, there are also security and privacy concerns associated with the move. There is also no guarantee the next Facebook or Messenger hack won’t reveal the nude images itself. Facebook’s track record in dealing with user’s privacy isn’t that great either.
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Under the circumstances, what remains to be seen is whether Facebook’s rather drastic approach to dealing with revenge porn does yield the desired result.
