Social networks have allowed people to share their lives via photos and videos, but since this is entirely a user’s decision, some people end up resulting to posting intimate photos without the other person’s permission.
Posting of revenge porn on a social network causes emotional distress to the party affected and Facebook wants to solve this with a host of new tools.
“Today we’re rolling out new tools to prevent ‘revenge porn’ from being shared on Facebook, Messenger and Instagram,” Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg said in a post yesterday.
According to Facebook, when a person sees an intimate image on Facebook that was shared without permission, they can report using the report link that appears when you tap on the downward arrow. On the back end, specially trained representatives from Facebook’s Community Operations team will review it and remove it if it violates the company’s Community standards. Facebook will also in most cases disable the account for doing such an act.
Facebook will also use ‘photo matching’ technologies to hinder the spread of the photo on Facebook, Instagram or Messenger. If someone tries to share this reported intimate image, they will be alerted that it violates Facebook’s policies and they have stopped attempts to share it. Facebook will also partner with safety organizations to offer support and resources to the victims.
The company says they convened over 150 experts and saftey organizations from locations like India, Ireland, Washington Dc, New York, Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, Sweden and also Kenya for feedback that led to this announcement.
