Facebook has been trying to fix its problems revenge porn — explicit images and videos shared without the subject’s consent — for some time. In April, the company announced a number of new features, including a new option for users to flag and report content and using “photo-matching technologies” to stop a particular image from spreading by using AI. Apparently, Facebook really thinks AI is the best way to go. It’s currently testing another computer-based feature in Australia, asking users to send Facebook their own nudes as a preventative measure.
The idea, according to Motherboard, is that if Facebook has an explicit image of you, it can flag it and keep it from being shared if somebody else tries to upload it. Users can do this by messaging — in Facebook Messenger — themselves a nude and marking it as a “nonconsensual intimate image.” Facebook will then store a hash of the photo — the company says the photos themselves aren’t stored — for future reference. Which all sounds good and fine in theory, but forces you to ask yourself how much you really trust Facebook. Enough to preemptively hand over your nudes?
