by Yes, you read right.
Facebook has asked all their Australian users to send nude pictures to the social media giant. The aim of request is to rid the platform of ‘revenge porn’.
Facebook has partnered with the e-Safety Commissioner in Australia to block the unauthorized distribution of nude pictures.
According to a previous study performed in Australia, one in five women between the ages of 18 and 45 are victims of revenge porn.
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How Does This Work?
According to Facebook, all the user needs to do is upload their nude pictures to their own Messenger. Once uploaded, the images will be ‘algorithmically assessed’ and the content will be tagged for future reference.
The social media giant will be on the lookout for facial recognition algorithms that may have appeared previously.
“This works only if you’re in possession of the original file, but it would seem to bypass any attempts from a malicious third party to alter the metadata by analyzing and tagging the actual content of the image or video,” explained online site, The Verge.
According to Facebook, uploaded images aren’t stored, only the link to the uploaded image. This means that no one will be able to upload the same image twice onto Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
The Picture Process
Facebook has expressed that they have already implemented a photo-matching tool to fight revenge porn in April, however they are confident that this new system will work.
Once this has been tested in Australia, there are talks of it happening around the world. A Facebook official has mentioned that the United States, Britain and Canada could be on the cards.
The social media service said that a small number of “specially trained representatives” at Facebook will have to look at the image. Thereafter, the image will be deleted and no one will be able to access the image.
This is the process that Facebook is requesting their users to take:
- Australians need to complete an online form specifying their details;
- Users must send through their images to their own Messenger;
- Once the message is sent, users can delete the images from their Messenger.
The Stats
According to a study conducted by Melbourne’s Monash University, 4% of US internet users have been victims of revenge porn. A shocking 10% of those victims are women under the age of 30. The University said that both. men and women were falling victim to this crime.
Last month, the eSafety Commission launched an online platform for victims to communicate and report cases where their photos are shared online without their consent.
According to a survey conducted by the Commission, Facebook accounted for 53% of online abuse, SnapChat with 11% and Instagram with 4% respectively.
Would you share your nude photos in order to combat revenge porn?
