Facebook erred in shutting down its facial recognition system, according to former world chess champion and human rights activist Garry Kasparov.
The decision, announced on Tuesday, was declared “stupid” by Kasparov during the Web Technology Summit in Lisbon.
“The social network is succumbing to this public outcry,” Kasparov said Wednesday, just days after Facebook was rebranded as META. “Personally, I think it’s stupid for one simple reason: Facebook can shut down the system, but the Chinese can’t.”
“It’s crazy to think that in the age of the global Internet, you can start forcing companies in America or Europe to follow these rules and give up new features,” added the strategist known for his struggles for technology and against over-regulation.
Facebook has announced that it will no longer use facial recognition on its platform, allowing it, since 2010, to recognize a person based on photos or videos posted on this social network.
The California group implicated in several scandals has also indicated that it will suppress the backlog of facial recognition information relating to one billion users, according to a statement.
“This change will mark one of the most significant developments in the use of facial recognition in the history of this technology,” said the company’s vice president in charge of artificial intelligence, Jerome Bisenti.
Select “More than a third of Facebook users per day have facial recognition turned on and can be recognized.” Thus more than a billion digital forms of facial recognition will be suppressed.
This unexpected decision means that some popular tools on the network will no longer work, for example, the algorithm will fail to identify the people in the photo when someone posts it.
Facebook is facing a series of charges linked to a former employee’s disclosure of internal documents.
Francis Hogan, in remarks to the US Congress and European Parliament, and now, at the Web Summit in Lisbon, ensured that the social networking company puts its profits before the safety of users.
Chris Skeldon is a contributor to Brytfmonline.com, covering a wide range of topics including news, politics, business, technology, sports, entertainment, and lifestyle. He focuses on delivering clear, accurate, and reader-friendly reporting that helps audiences stay informed about current events and emerging developments. With an emphasis on useful information and balanced storytelling, Chris aims to provide timely coverage of issues and stories that matter most to readers.