Last November, Australian media reported that Facebook was experimenting with a novel idea to combat revenge porn on its platforms. In a pilot program done in cooperation with the government, users would do something that feels ill advised: upload a nude image to Facebook. The idea was that by doing so, Facebook could preempt that specific image from being uploaded to the platform by someone else in the future through technology that can help identify duplicates. The program sparked backlash among Facebook observers and internet users. One cybersecurity expert told Quartz at the time that it was a “horrible idea,” questioning the wisdom of giving such sensitive information to a third party—a sentiment hard to shake after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which revealed just how unsafe user data was on Facebook. Despite the criticism, on May 22, Facebook announced that it was expanding the tests to the US, UK,…
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While a women’s advocate applauds the Saskatchewan government’s plans to give victims of revenge porn more power in court, she says the move won’t shift the cultural attitudes behind the harmful practice. In Wednesday’s throne speech, the provincial government announced plans to change the Privacy Act to allow victims of revenge porn the option to sue their bullies in small-claims court. Revenge porn is typically when private intimate images are publicly shared online without authorization. The province said that relying solely on the Criminal Code to crack down on this type of cyberbullying has been difficult because the burden of proof is so high. The changes will “put the onus on the person that circulates it to prove that they had the consent of the person who was in the pictures,” said Justice Minister Don Morgan to reporters Wednesday. “It’s a tool that we want to give to victims in our province,” he…
The Saskatchewan Legislative Building. Brandon Harder / Regina Leader-Post The provincial government has introduced legislation that is intended to support victims of “revenge porn.” The initiative, introduced today by Justice Minister and Attorney General Don Morgan, will create new legal options for people whose intimate images have been shared without their consent. An intimate image is a visual image, including photos or videos, in which a person is nude, partially nude, or engaged in explicit sexual activity, that was made in circumstances that implied a reasonable expectation of privacy. “This Bill sends a strong message that this callous, criminal behaviour has consequences, and that the Government of Saskatchewan stands with the victims of this type of attack,” Morgan said in a news release. The Privacy Amendment Act, 2017 will allow a person whose intimate image has been distributed without their consent to sue the person who distributed the image. It will also shift…