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Facebook: Send Us Nudes So We Can Fight Revenge Porn

The social network is asking people in Australia to preemptively send their nudes before angry exes post them. What could go wrong?

 & Angela Moscaritolo Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

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Facebook is testing a new tactic in Australia to fight revenge porn: soliciting nudes.

SecurityWatchAccording to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the social network has teamed up with Australia's e-Safety Commissioner, a government agency that works to protect young people online, on a new anti-revenge porn system that lets people preemptively send nudes before angry exes post them.

Here's how it works: if someone is worried they might become the victim of revenge porn, they can get in touch with the e-Safety Commissioner. The person would then be instructed to send their sensitive photos to him or herself on Facebook Messenger.

Facebook will then use artificial intelligence and other "photo-matching technologies" to "hash" the images, which would prevent them from being uploaded to Facebook, Instagram, or Messenger in the future, e-Safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant told ABC News.

"We see many scenarios where maybe photos or videos were taken consensually at one point, but there was not any sort of consent to send the images or videos more broadly," Grant told the news outlet.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In April, Facebook made it easier to report intimate images that may have been shared without a person's permission. To do so, tap on the downward arrow or "…" next to a post and click "Report." Once you report an image, "specially trained representatives" from Facebook's Community Operations review it and, if it's found to be in violation of the social network's Community Standards, take it down.

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade. 

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes. 

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app. 

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth. 

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light. 

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

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