META BUILDS TOOL TO STOP REVENGE PORN
Tech Giant Meta has announced a tool to help prevent the spread of revenge porn across its platforms, Facebook and Instagram.
The tool allows people concerned about intimate images of them being posted online, to share the material with a website, StopNCII.org, which stands for Stop Non-Consensual Images.
The images are then converted into “digital fingerprints” and stored in a global database in an attempt to identify and remove the content if it reappears on social media.
Meta has developed the tool with Revenge Porn Helpline, a UK-based charity that helps victims of revenge porn attacks. The charity says that companies behind other social media platforms are also interested in joining the scheme.
“Having one system open to all parts of industry is critical,” Revenge Porn Helpline’s manager, Sophie Mortimer, told NBC News.
“We know this material doesn’t just get shared on one platform and it needs a much more joined-up approach.”
“By allowing potential victims to access the hashing technology directly, StopNCII.org gives them more agency, protects the privacy of their images and opens the door for other companies to participate in this effort,” a Meta Spokesperson said in a statement.
“This platform is the first global initiative of its kind to safely and securely help people who are concerned their intimate images…may be shared without their consent.”
OFCOM SHOULD INVESTIGATE FACEBOOK ENCRYPTION: NSPCC
Ofcom should be given emergency powers to investigate Facebook’s encryption plans, NSPCC chief, Peter Wanless, has said.
In a letter to the Telegraph, Wanless has said that the regulator, which is set to be given new powers under the Online Safety Bill, should be instructed to conduct an independent assessment into the consequences of introducing encryption on the site and the potential harm it could cause to vulnerable people.
The comment comes in the wake of a backlash against Facebook’s encryption plans, with some children’s charities saying that the move could make it easier to send child sexual abuse material without detection, putting children and young people at risk.
“The ongoing encryption debate and whistle-blower revelations highlight that Meta can no longer be judge and jury over their own conduct while children’s safety sits on a cliff edge,” Wanless said.
Facebook have said they will continue to develop their approach to protecting children online and have delayed the introduction of encryption till 2023.
MAKE SELLERS LIABLE FOR DANGEROUS ITEMS, CAMPAIGNERS SAY
A coalition of campaigners is calling on the government to make online marketplaces responsible for dangerous items sold through their websites.
The group, which includes Which? Magazine, the London Fire Brigade and the British Toy and Hobby Association, have written a joint letter arguing that sites like Amazon and eBay currently have little to no responsibility for what is sold on their platform, putting consumers at risk.
“For too long consumers have been left to navigate online marketplaces with inadequate legal protection or confidence that what they are buying is safe,” Lesley Rudd, chief executive of Electrical Safety First, told the BBC.
The letter offers a number of examples of safety risks of products being sold online, including children’s toys with small parts that can be swallowed, electrical devices that don’t meet UK electrical safety standards, and items that pose a fire risk.
In response to the letter, Amazon have said they “have proactive measures in place to prevent suspicious or non-compliant products from being listed,” and eBay said that it “has performed sweeps to identify and remove other listings offering such products.”
TWITCH LAUNCHES AI TO TRACK DOWN BANNED USERS
Social media platform Twitch has unveiled a new AI tool which has been developed to track down users of the site who attempt to make a return after having been banned.
The new system uses machine learning to warn chat moderators if a user is likely to be trying to avoid a ban.
Users categorised as “likely” ban-evaders will have their messages blocked, while “possible” ban-evaders can continue to share messages.
The tool will be switched on by default, but chat moderators will have the option to turn it off.
Gooseberry Planet offers a whole school approach to online safety including game-based learning, digital workbooks and comprehensive reporting. Visit our website for more details.
