LOS ANGELES—When worldwide stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus pandemic that took hold last month, the videoconferencing app Zoom saw a sudden explosion in popularity, jumping from 10 million daily users to about 200 million seemingly overnight. And with the surge came a sudden rise in security breaches and privacy violations—to the point where the company’s CEO, Eric Yuan, admitted that he “messed up.”
But now according to some reports, Zoom is planning to crack down on one specific use of the app—virtual sex parties, and it may use “machine learning,” a form of artificial intelligence, to stop users from engaging in video sex via the app.
“For those who are single and quarantined in isolation, or coupled and simply bored and horny, virtual sex parties on Zoom and other platforms have filled the void of a day marked by fear—of losing your job, of you or a loved one getting sick—or simply boredom,” wrote Rolling Stone reporter EJ Dickson, in a lengthy exploration of the virtual sex phenomenon.
Though Rolling Stone magazine exposed the trend, the LGBTQ publication Out wrote that the threat of a crackdown is why the magazine “hasn't covered the queer ‘orgies’ that have been happening since quarantine has set in—media attention can bring added regulation.”
The Zoom user agreement prohibits “any obscene, indecent, illegal, or violent activity or content on the platform,” and says that it will “use a mix of tools, including machine learning to proactively identify accounts that may be in violation.”
PC Magazine, however, reported that Zoom “will probably have a tough time making any sort of dent in the adult activity.” When the tech magazine tried to get a comment from the company about whether or not it planned to actively crack down on virtual sex, it received no response.
Rolling Stone also tried to find out from the Zoom itself how it’s “machine learning” tools would intercept nudity and sexual activity online—but likewise received no response.
In his “apology” last month, Yuan pledged that Zoom was now dedicated to becoming “a privacy-and security-first company,” but acknowledged that the platform was being used during the pandemic “in a myriad of unexpected ways.”
Zoom’s privacy policies claim that the company does not monitor, record or store user video conferences.
Photo By antonbe / Pixabay
