LONDON: Instagram will test features that blur messages containing nudity to safeguard teens and prevent potential scammers from reaching them, its parent Meta said on Thursday as it tries to allay concerns over harmful content on its apps.
The tech giant is under mounting pressure in the United States and Europe over allegations that its apps were addictive and have fueled mental health issues among young people.
Meta said the protection feature for Instagram’s direct messages would use on-device machine learning to analyze whether an image sent through the service contains nudity.
The feature will be turned on by default for users under 18 and Meta will notify adults to encourage them to turn it on.
“Because the images are analyzed on the device itself, nudity protection will also work in end-to-end encrypted chats, where Meta won’t have access to these images – unless someone chooses to report them to us,” the company said.
Unlike Meta’s Messenger and WhatsApp apps, direct messages on Instagram are not encrypted but the company has said it plans to roll out encryption for the service.
Meta also said that it was developing technology to help identify accounts that might be potentially engaging in sextortion scams and that it was testing new pop-up messages for users who might have interacted with such accounts.
In January, the social media giant had said it would hide more content from teens on Facebook and Instagram, adding this would make it more difficult for them to come across sensitive content such as suicide, self-harm and eating disorders.
Attorneys general of 33 US states, including California and New York, sued the company in October, saying it repeatedly misled the public about the dangers of its platforms.
In Europe, the European Commission has sought information on how Meta protects children from illegal and harmful content. (Reporting by Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni and Alan Barona)
Meta to blur Instagram messages containing nudity in latest move for teen safety
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Meta to blur Instagram messages containing nudity in latest move for teen safety
- The feature will use on-device machine learning to analyze image sent as direct message on Instagram
- The company also mentioned that they are currently developing new tools to identify accounts engaged in sextortion
Iceland joins Eurovision boycott over Israel’s participation
- Decision follows similar moves by Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and Slovenia over the Gaza war
- Iceland’s national broadcaster says it pulled out 'given the public debate' in the country
LONDON: Iceland’s national broadcaster said Wednesday it will boycott next year’s Eurovision Song Contest because of discord over Israel’s participation, joining four other countries in a walkout of the pan-continental music competition.
Broadcasters in Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and Slovenia told contest organizer the European Broadcasting Union last week that they will not take part in the contest in Vienna in May after organizers declined to expel Israel over its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
The board of Iceland’s RÚV met Wednesday to make a decision.
At its conclusion the broadcaster said in a statement that “given the public debate in this country ... it is clear that neither joy nor peace will prevail regarding the participation of RÚV in Eurovision. It is therefore the conclusion of RÚV to notify the EBU today that RÚV will not take part in Eurovision next year.”
“The Song Contest and Eurovision have always had the aim of uniting the Icelandic nation but it is now clear that this aim cannot be achieved and it is on these program-related grounds that this decision is taken,” the broadcaster said.
Last week the general assembly of the EBU — a group of public broadcasters from 56 countries that runs Eurovision — met to discuss concerns about Israel’s participation. Members voted to adopt tougher contest voting rules in response to allegations that Israel manipulated the vote in favor of its competitor, but took no action to exclude any broadcaster from the competition.
The pullouts include some big names in the Eurovision world. Spain is one of the “Big Five” large-market countries that contribute the most to the contest. Ireland has won seven times, a record it shares with Sweden.
Iceland, a volcanic North Atlantic island nation with a population of 360,000, has never won but has the highest per capita viewing audience of any country.
The walkouts cast a cloud over the future of what’s meant to be a feel-good cultural party marked by friendly rivalry and disco beats, dealing a blow to fans, broadcasters and the contest’s finances.
The contest, which turns 70 in 2026, strives to put pop before politics, but has repeatedly been embroiled in world events. Russia was expelled in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
It has been roiled by the war in Gaza for the past two years, stirring protests outside the venues and forcing organizers to clamp down on political flag-waving.
Opponents of Israel’s participation cite the war in Gaza, where more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government and whose detailed records are viewed as generally reliable by the international community.
Israel’s government has repeatedly defended its campaign as a response to the attack by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023. The militants killed around 1,200 people — mostly civilians — in the attack and took 251 hostage.
A number of experts, including those commissioned by a UN body, have said that Israel’s offensive in Gaza amounts to genocide, a claim Israel has vigorously denied.
Wednesday marked the final day for national broadcasters to announce whether they planned to participate. More than two dozen countries have confirmed they will attend the contest in Vienna, and the EBU says a final list of competing nations will be published before Christmas.
