Instagram is developing a method to shield users from receiving unwanted nude photos in their direct messages. After an app researcher revealed an early screenshot of the feature, Instagram’s parent company, Meta, told The Verge that it was really under development.
According to Meta, the optional user restrictions, which are still under development, would enable individuals protect themselves from offensive content such as nude images.
The tech giant likened these controls to its “Hidden Words” feature, which allows users to automatically filter direct message requests containing offensive content.
The technology, according to Meta, prevents Meta from viewing the actual messages or disclosing them to outside parties. According to Meta spokesperson Liz Fernandez, “We’re working closely with experts to ensure that these new capabilities respect people’s privacy while providing them control over the messages they receive.”
As testing draws near, Meta promises to provide additional information about the new functionality in the coming weeks.
90 percent of abusive direct messages sent to prominent women using images were ignored by Instagram’s tools, according to a report released earlier this year by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a British NGO. Men frequently sent pornographic photographs, and the “hidden words” option was unable to totally block out expletives such “b*tch.”
In the meantime, a study by The Pew Research Center last year revealed that 33% of women under the age of 35 have experienced online sexual harassment.
The development of the new Instagram function comes at a time when cyberflashing, which involves sending unwanted sexual messages to strangers online, frequently women, may soon be made a crime in the UK if the Online Safety Bill is approved by Parliament.
However, most of the US does not have laws against cyberflashing, although Texas does in 2019. Despite the fact that some professionals think it might have an as negative psychological impact as physical sexual abuse,
Professor Clare McGlynn, a specialist on image-based sexual assault at Durham Law School, told HuffPost that some people “may come out and say [cyber flashing] is innocuous.” Everyone finds it difficult that it isn’t face-to-face, yet sexual offenses cannot be ranked in that manner. Sexual offenses cause such severe suffering, and different types of offenses might affect different persons in the same way.
