Take It Down is a new three-pronged “tool” for removing inappropriate images from the internet. The system allows anyone to anonymously create a digital fingerprint of an image they wish to remove from the web.
“Once you send this photo, you will not be able to take it back,” the warning says to teens, who often ignore the fact that many send “obscene” photos of themselves under duress or without understanding the consequences. A new online tool aims to give teens or former teens some control over the situation and remove inappropriate images and videos of themselves from the internet.
The tool, called Take It Down, is operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and funded in part by Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook and Instagram.
The site allows anyone to anonymously — and without uploading actual images — create what is essentially a digital print of an image. This “fingerprint” (a unique set of numbers called a “hash”) is then entered into a database, and tech companies that have agreed to participate in the project remove the images from their services, reports the Guardian.
However, there are exceptions. Attention! Participating platforms are Facebook and Instagram Meta, Yubo, OnlyFans and Mindgeek’s Pornhub. If the image is located on another website or sent via an encrypted platform such as WhatsApp, it will not be deleted. Besides, if someone changes the original image — for example, cutting it, adding an emoji, or turning it into a meme — it becomes a new file and therefore requires a new analysis. Images that are visually similar, such as the same photo with and without the Instagram filter, will have similar hashes that only differ by one character.
Meta, when it was still Facebook, tried to create a similar tool, albeit for adults, in 2017. However, nothing really came of this, as the site asked people to send their encrypted nude photos to Facebook. The company briefly tested the service in Australia, but did not roll it out to other countries. In 2021, he helped launch an adult tool called StopNCII, i.e. put an end to revenge porn. This site is run by the UK Revenge Porn Helpline, a non-profit organization, but anyone around the world can use it.
Twitter and TikTok are not yet involved in the project. The site works with both real and artificial images and deepfakes.
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