Meta restarts facial recognition to curb scams

Firm shut down the verification system on Facebook in 2021 amid 'growing societal concerns'

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Three years after Meta shut down facial recognition software on Facebook amid a groundswell of privacy and regulator pushback, the social media giant said on Tuesday it is testing the service again as part of a crackdown on "celeb bait" scams.

Meta said it will enroll about 50,000 public figures in a trial which involves automatically comparing their Facebook profile photos with images used in suspected scam advertisements. If the images match and Meta believes the ads are scams, it will block them.

The celebrities will be notified of their enrollment and can opt out if they do not want to participate, the company said.

The company plans to roll out the trial globally from December, excluding some large jurisdictions where it does not have regulatory clearance such as Britain, the European Union, South Korea and the US states of Texas and Illinois, it added.