Instagram cracks down on harassment videos filmed with Meta smart glasses
Instagram is stepping up enforcement against videos filmed with Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses that are used to harass or exploit unsuspecting people in public, as concerns over wearable cameras and privacy continue to grow.
According to Business Insider, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri confirmed the platform will remove content showing strangers being secretly recorded and harassed, including the increasingly common "pickup" and prank-style videos filmed with smart glasses.
"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 an Instagram Stories Q&A.
"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."
The policy reportedly applies to videos in which creators approach members of the public who may not realise they are being recorded, as well as prank content targeting unsuspecting people.
Business Insider reports that two Instagram accounts with more than one million followers each were recently deactivated after posting videos of women filmed using Meta smart glasses.
Meta later confirmed the accounts had been removed for violating its policy on harassing content captured with the devices.
The company has not detailed exactly how the policy will be enforced or where it draws the line between acceptable and prohibited content.
The move comes amid mounting scrutiny of smart glasses, which have sparked debate over privacy because they allow users to record video from a first-person perspective with relatively little visibility.
Although Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses feature an LED light that signals when recording is taking place, earlier versions of the glasses were criticised after some users found ways to obscure the indicator.
In July, Meta introduced a software update designed to disable the camera if the recording light is deliberately covered, making it more difficult to conceal when the glasses are filming.
The latest enforcement action highlights the growing challenges facing manufacturers of AI-powered wearable cameras as they balance new technology with privacy expectations.
It also comes as Apple is widely expected to enter the smart glasses market, with reports suggesting the company is prioritising privacy by exploring designs that use outward-facing cameras for AI features while omitting photo and video recording altogether.