Professor: Facebook Needs To Do More To Fight “Revenge Porn”

facebook_blackbg_logoIt was recently revealed that a private Facebook group called Marines United has been sharing nude or invasive photos of women without their consent. Some of the victims include other service members, ex-girlfriends and strangers.  The original group has closed, but many others have popped up to replace it. U.S. laws haven’t exactly caught up to tackle the problem of “revenge porn,” so some experts are calling on Facebook to handle the problem itself.

“We need tech platforms to go beyond formal policies,” said Mary Ann Franks, a law professor at the University of Miami and vice president of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative. “The should adopt preemptive measures against it, as they have done with child pornography and are beginning to do with terrorist propaganda.”

Indeed, Facebook explicitly bans revenge porn in its Community Standards, but the problem really runs rampant in closed groups like Marines United. In order for offensive or illegal content to get removed, an approved member of the group would need to report it. Since this kind of whistleblowing is rare, experts like Franks argue that Facebook needs to invent its own system to find these images. The law has to handle its fair share of the problem, too, but there’s no doubt Facebook should do more to find and remove invasive pics.


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