There are actual human beings in this world who decide that the best course of action to spite their ex is to publically post a nude image of them on Facebook. It’s called revenge porn — and it’s illegal in 38 states.
And Facebook is now testing a new, very strange way to combat it: by asking users to send their nudes to… Facebook.
That’s… uh… what?
The “preemptive revenge porn defense” will be tested in Australia and 3 other countries for now, and to execute the idea, Facebook will be partnering with e-Safety, an Australian government agency focused on preventing digital abuse.
If a user thinks she might be a potential revenge porn target, she contacts e-Safety, which then instructs the user to upload any suggestive photos and/or videos she thinks might be used against her into Facebook Messenger.
Facebook claims it won’t store the images, but rather a “hash system” that would allow their algorithm to recognize similar pictures without holding them on their servers.
Not so fast, Facebook
Turns out, before the image can be “hashed,” an actual human at Facebook has to look at it to make sure it “fits the definition of revenge porn.”
So, the solution to preventing complete strangers from seeing your nudes is… to send your nudes to a complete stranger.
Though well-intentioned, it seems like a bad move all around: instead of strengthening its algorithm to prevent such things from happening, Facebook is shifting responsibility to (and making things very uncomfortable for) the potential victim.