‘Revenge porn’ issue: Facebook's photo-matching software to stop re-sharing of reported photos; One-stop destination created

Facebook is cracking down on “revenge porn” big time. It’s taking a series of steps to stop such images from spreading. The steps also include a process wherein Facebook will prevent users from reposting intimate images shared without the subject’s consent.

According to Facebook’s Head of Global Safety, Antigone Davis, even though posting revenge porn images was already against the site’s community guidelines, from now on, Facebook will identify and catalogue images reported as revenge porn. It becomes difficult for victims of non-consensual porn to remove images of themselves from the Internet, as it is easy to reshare photos that have been taken down in other places. Facebook will now use photo-matching software to stop resharing of taken down photos, at least on its own website.

“Today, we are announcing new tools to help people when intimate images are shared on Facebook without their permission. When this content, often referred to as 'revenge porn,' is reported to us, we can now prevent it from being shared on Facebook, Messenger and Instagram. This is part of our ongoing effort to help build a safe community on and off Facebook,” Davis stated in a Facebook post.

Anyone trying to reshare a reported and removed image will instantly receive a notification stating that the image(s) violates Facebook’s policies and that the company has stopped any attempt to share it. Davis said that the company will continue to evolve its tools in the future. While this new revenge porn process will prevent reported images from spreading through Facebook, it will still depend on users reporting images for themselves. This may not happen in closed groups where users have created a community to share such images.

However, many are calling these new steps by Facebook as a huge advancement in taking down non-consensual pornography. Californian Democratic Congresswoman Jackie Speier applauded the social networking site for its dedication in addressing this devilish issue. He has sponsored legislation that would make revenge porn illegal, writes The Sydney Morning Herald. Meanwhile, Facebook is working with a number of groups to devise its revenge porn policies. It has worked with Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, a group co-founded by a revenge porn victim.

The victim’s name is Holly Jacobs, and Facebook has worked with Jacobs to create a one-stop destination for reporting revenge porn images posted on multiple sites. The social networking site has also launched a revenge porn guide specific to Facebook, named, “Not Without My Consent.”

“Additionally, the National Network to End Domestic Violence, Centre for Social Research, the Revenge Porn Helpline (UK) and the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative provided input and feedback throughout the product-development process,” Davis added.