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At this point, it seems clear that Facebook has a pathological habit of violating its users’ privacy rights even in contexts when it clearly shouldn’t and has not been given permission to do so. In the latest addition to Facebook’s rising pile of fiascos, the social network recently admitted that it scans photos and links that are sent through its Messenger service. What’s more, it seems censorship is also involved.
This newest revelation comes via an interview with Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg who Ezra Klein of Vox a story related to this news. Apparently, it had to do with reports of a Myanmar ethnic cleansing incident that occurred some time ago, to which Messenger users naturally talked about with more than a little sensationalism involved.
“In that case, our systems detect what’s going on,” Zuckerberg said. “We stop those messages from going through.”
This particular admission caused a ripple of concern among social media users, which eventually turned into a tidal wave of panic. Was Facebook looking through all messages that are sent through Messenger? If so, how often does it do so and to whom?
In a statement to Bloomberg, a company spokesperson confirms that it does scan messages sent through its popular messaging app. This is a practice that is being justified as a way to prevent abuse on the platform, much like Facebook does on its main app.
“For example, on Messenger, when you send a photo, our automated systems scan it using photo matching technology to detect known child exploitation imagery or when you send a link, we scan it for malware or viruses,” the spokesperson said. “Facebook designed these automated tools so we can rapidly stop abusive behavior on our platform.”
Suffice it to say, this development is not good for the social network. In terms of the optics alone, it makes Facebook look even more of a user information hoarder than it already does. The implications are made even worse by the fact that this particular policy may not have been specifically understood by the users.
