Instagram cracks down on growing ‘pervert glasses’ problem with Meta Ray-Bans

Some people fear heights. Others fear the dark. Some increasingly fear ending up in a stranger’s Instagram Reel, recorded without their knowledge by a pair of what the internet has taken to calling “pervert glasses.”

These would be the same Ray-Ban Meta glasses that Mark Zuckerberg has spent years pitching as one of AI’s first breakout consumer products. It turns out the glasses can answer questions, translate language, capture photos, livestream hands-free — and record videos surreptitiously. 

Instagram is cracking down on videos recorded using Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, whose built-in camera allows users to capture photos and videos hands-free, after prank videos and clips of pickup artists secretly recording women in public spread across social media. The trend has fueled privacy concerns around the glasses and earned them an unflattering nickname online: “pervert glasses.”

“If you’re posting content that is taking advantage of people and harassing them, like a lot of these pickup line kind of videos that we’ve heard of and seen, then we’re going to take the content down,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in response to a question on his Instagram Stories last week. Meta has also removed creator accounts that violated the policy.

The move underscores the challenge for Meta: convincing consumers that AI-powered glasses can become an everyday device without sacrificing privacy. This controversy adds to a growing list of Meta’s privacy challenges, expanding the debate from the company’s data practices to how people are using its AI-powered glasses in public.

Privacy has become Meta’s biggest hurdle

After introducing four new AI glasses........

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