Instagram Is Starting to Take Action Against Creepy Videos Using Smart Glasses.

In a recent Instagram post, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announced that the social network is blocking videos using smart glasses that depict people being harassed and exploited for views.

“If you’re posting content that exploits and harasses people, like many of these pickup-line videos we’ve seen and heard about, we’ll remove that content,” Mosseri said. “We don’t want people secretly filming videos of other people, harassing them, and then posting them on our platform. So we’re trying to combat that in every way possible.”

Hidden camera prank videos and “dating” videos are certainly nothing new, but the easy availability of camera glasses has led to a sharp increase in this type of content: videos of men trying to pick up women , pranking store clerks , and performing other pranks have become increasingly common on video hosting sites.

Business Insider reported that Meta recently suspended two accounts with over a million followers for posting videos featuring “pickup artists,” in which women, possibly unaware they were being filmed, post their videos online, leading to harassment. A Meta spokesperson confirmed that the accounts were removed in accordance with the company’s current policy on harassment and bullying.

How Meta defines harassment

Meta’s official anti-bullying policy states, “We remove content that aims to humiliate or shame, including, for example, statements about someone’s sexual activity,” and gives a number of specific examples, such as “harsh comments of a sexual nature” and “calls for bullying and/or harassment or statements of intent to engage in such.” But there are many ambiguities here. For example, videos containing vaguely aggressive actions directed at strangers don’t appear to violate Meta’s standards. A video like the one below also doesn’t, but I would feel quite harassed if I were in this doctor’s shoes.

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There’s no reliable way to automatically detect harassment, as much of what constitutes harassment depends on intent and context. This leaves enforcement to users who can report videos and/or victims, who are often unaware that their image is being shared online until it’s too late to take action.

The Complex Ethics of ‘Pervert Glasses’

Backlash against smart glasses with built-in cameras is definitely growing, from apps designed to detect them in public places , to condemnation from pop stars and outright bans on smart glasses in some places .

To protect privacy, Meta glasses are equipped with a front-facing light that turns on when recording video or taking photos, but this light has been a persistent problem since the glasses’ launch. Disabling the light has become a constant game of cat and mouse: Meta’s smartglasses’ cameras won’t work if the light is obscured, but hackers have found ways to modify the hardware itself, forcing Meta to release a mandatory update that physically disables any glasses if the user attempts to change the indicator. These cunning creatures are quite inventive, so I expect more workarounds to emerge.

Whether or not there’s a light, using hidden cameras in public places in the US is generally legal (with some exceptions), and filming yourself trying to pick up someone and then posting it online for strangers to comment on isn’t necessarily illegal either.

How to detect hidden cameras in glasses

Unless you have exceptional vision, it can be difficult to spot someone wearing modified glasses without a recording indicator, but it’s not impossible. Here are a few signs to look out for:

• Rivet: Most standard glasses have a decorative hinge covering the hinge. Meta Ray-Bans and most other camera glasses have a slightly larger, round hinge with an internal glass ring.

• Thick Frames : While technology is getting smaller, glasses with a built-in camera tend to have thicker frames to hide the hardware.

• Tap : There are two ways to activate the standard Meta smart glasses: say “Hey Meta, take a video” or tap the side of the glasses.

• Head Movement : Meta glasses have a fairly wide-angle lens, so there isn’t a lot of movement required to capture a scene, but still, if a person is moving their head when they could just be moving their eyes, they may be trying to keep something in frame.

However, despite the growing popularity of the nickname “pervert glasses,” smart glasses with a built-in camera have many legitimate uses, and I’m guessing the vast majority of users want to quickly upload content to Instagram, reply to messages, or take photos without pulling out their phones. So, just seeing such glasses in person doesn’t mean you’ve seen a pervert. Usually.

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