Instagram is cracking down on videos shot on Meta glasses that feature harassment of strangers in public places, such as the obnoxious prank videos that Business Insider reported on this spring.
In an Instagram story, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said that such video content would now be banned on the platform.
“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,” Mosseri said in response to a question on his Instagram stories last week. “We don’t want people to be surreptitiously taking videos of other people and harassing them and then posting them on our platform. So we’re trying to fight that every way we can.”
I wrote about the proliferation of videos on TikTok and Reels where people film themselves doing pranks on service workers, like cashiers or fast food workers, while wearing Meta glasses. Often, these pranks verge on harassment or are just plain obnoxious behavior, like putting fart spray into a candle at Walmart and then asking employees to smell it.
Another noxious genre is from pick-up artists who use the glasses to film themselves approaching women at gyms or on the street. While these interactions are sometimes positive, there’s an awkward moment when the women don’t realize they’re being filmed at first.
It’s unclear how many videos have been removed under this new policy. Business Insider found that two large accounts of pickup artists who filmed themselves approaching women in public while wearing the glasses had been deactivated. (Both previously had more than a million followers.) A Meta spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider that these accounts were booted for violating the policy about posting harassing content that had been filmed with the glasses.
Meta did not directly respond to questions about how this new policy is being enforced or what exactly constitutes a violation.
The glasses have an indicator light that turns on when you’re recording. In older models, people could tamper with it or hide the light by drilling holes or covering it with tape or film. A new update will now disable the camera if someone tries to tamper with the light, Meta has said.
But even when working, a small light in the corner of glasses isn’t necessarily a universally recognized sign that someone is recording you, and can be easily missed, especially outside in bright light. I recently had a conversation with someone wearing the glasses and didn’t notice their indicator light was on at all until they brought it to my attention.
This new crackdown may be influenced by Meta’s desire not to have its glasses referred to as “pervert glasses” — a nickname that’s been gaining steam on social media lately.
Meta glasses may still be controversial, and people are rightfully wary of being recorded in public spaces. But removing videos from people who are profiting from posting content of nasty pranks or sleazy pickup tactics while using the videos is at least a step in the right direction.
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