Facebook is asking users who are worried about nudes or other intimate images circulating on social media to send them copies.
The social media service, which settled a privacy lawsuit for using photo face-tagging and other biometric data without permission just this year, is now asking users to trust it and take a bigger risk. It has partnered with a UK based non-profit called Revenge Porn Helpline. The goal is to build a tool to prevent intimate images from being uploaded without consent to Facebook, Instagram and other participating platforms.
The tool, launched on 2 December, builds on a pilot program Facebook started in Australia in 2017. It allows people who are worried that their intimate photos or videos have been or could be shared online, for example by disgruntled ex-partners, to submit the images to a central, global website called StopNCII.org, which stands for Stop Non-Consensual Intimate Images.
“It’s a massive step forward,” said Sophie Mortimer, the helpline’s manager, speaking to NBC News. “The key for me is about putting this control over content back into the hands of people directly affected by this issue so they are not just left at the whims of a perpetrator threatening to share it.”
The submission process requires StopNCII.org to ask for confirmation that they are in an image. The photos or videos will then be converted into unique digital fingerprints which will be given to participating companies, starting with Facebook and Instagram.
StopNCII.org which was developed in consultation with 50 global partners specialising in image-based abuse, online safety and women’s rights, will not have access to or store copies of the original images. Instead, the images will be converted to hashes in users’ browsers, and StopNCII.org will get only the hashed copies.
People who submit material to the platform can also track their cases in real-time and withdraw their participation at any point.
In Facebook’s 2017 pilot, images were reviewed by human moderators at the point of submission and converted into hashes, which attracted some criticism over privacy concerns.
Other large platforms have expressed an interest in joining the initiative, including social media companies, adult sites and message boards, Mortimer said, although they are not yet ready to announce their participation in the program.
“Having one system open to all parts of the industry is critical,” she said. “We know this material doesn’t just get shared on one platform and it needs a much more joined-up approach.”
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