Instagram parent company Meta said Thursday it will test a feature that blurs information containing nudity to protect teenagers and prevent potential scammers from reaching them, while trying to allay concerns about harmful content on its app.
The tech giant has come under growing pressure in the United States and Europe amid accusations that its apps are addictive and exacerbate mental health problems among young people.
Meta said the protection feature for Instagram direct messages will use on-device machine learning to analyze whether images sent through the service contain nudity.
The feature will be turned on by default for users under 18, and Meta will notify adults to encourage them to turn it on.
“Since images are analyzed on the device itself, nudity protection will also work in end-to-end encrypted chats, and Meta will not have access to these images unless someone chooses to report them to us,” the company said.
Unlike Meta’s Messenger and WhatsApp apps, direct messages on Instagram are not encrypted, but the company said it plans to roll out encryption features for the service.
Meta also said it is developing technology to help identify accounts that may be involved in sextortion scams and is testing new pop-up messages for users who may interact with such accounts.
In January, the social media giant said it would hide more content from teenagers on Facebook and Instagram, adding that it would make it harder for them to spot sensitive content such as suicide, self-harm and eating disorders.
Attorneys general from 33 U.S. states, including California and New York, sued the company in October, saying it repeatedly misled the public about the dangers of its platform.
In Europe, the European Commission is seeking information on how Meta protects children from illegal and harmful content.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
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