Instagram has introduced stricter rules against videos recorded with Meta smart glasses that secretly film people in public. The move comes after backlash over creators using the glasses to record strangers without their knowledge and then posting the clips online. Many of these videos reportedly show people approaching strangers, service workers or women in public places while secretly recording the interaction. Some creators later upload these videos as prank content or pickup videos on Instagram. The trend has raised serious concerns about privacy.
The change was announced by Instagram head Adam Mosseri during a Q&A on his Instagram Stories. “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,” he said. “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.”
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According to a Business Insider report, Instagram has already removed two popular accounts that regularly shared pickup videos recorded with Meta smart glasses. A Meta spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider that both accounts were taken down because they violated Instagram’s policy against harassing content.
Meta is also making changes to its smart glasses to improve privacy. The company had earlier said that the recording indicator light on older models could be covered or modified, making it difficult for others to know when the camera was recording.
A recent software update addresses this issue. If the smart glasses detect that the recording indicator light has been blocked or tampered with, the camera will automatically stop working.
However, privacy concerns are still there as the recording light is very small and may be difficult to notice in crowded places or bright outdoor conditions.
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