“We don’t want people surreptitiously taking videos of other people.”
Meta has started banning Instagram users who use the company’s glasses to secretly record people to create content, according to a report from Business Insider. Meta owns Instagram, so this seems like an admission of something everyone already knows: Lots of guys have started using Meta Glasses to record people without their consent.
“If you post content that takes advantage of people and harasses them, like a lot of these pick-up line type videos we’ve heard about and seen, then we’re going to remove the content,” Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, recently said in a social media post. “We don’t want people surreptitiously taking other people’s videos, harassing them and then posting them on our platform.”
Regular Instagram users will probably have encountered some of these things. Much of this involves arrogant content creators playing pranks on service workers, while secretly filming everything with Meta Glasses or a similar product. Many of these “pranks” border on harassment.
Other videos show men filming their interactions with women in public. Women are generally unaware that they are being filmed, which has given Meta’s specs unfortunate nicknames like “pervert glasses” and “predator glasses.” This is not good for the brand image and the continued success of the products.
We don’t know exactly how many videos were removed under the new policy. Business Insider noted that two high-profile accounts that routinely film women in public without consent have been deactivated. The company also confirmed to the publication that these accounts were banned specifically for posting harassing content filmed with its glasses.
This isn’t the only step Meta is taking to try to stem the tide of creepy behavior enabled by smart glasses. The company recently added software that disables the camera completely if the LED light indicating recording has been tampered with. People hid this light with tape, film, or by drilling holes.
This has led to the creation of a cottage industry of people willing to “jailbreak” smart glasses so users can film without that pesky light going off. Meta’s recent hotfix hasn’t been available long enough for us to know if it impacted any unsavory behavior.
It should be noted, however, that the LED light is not exactly a spotlight. It’s easy to miss, even when it’s on. This is especially true when recording outdoors in natural light. Still, it’s good that Meta is doing something to solve a problem that the company largely helped create.
