Meta’s smart glasses allow creators to record strangers without holding an obvious camera. Unsurprisingly, it has enabled a lot of bad behavior. Now, Instagram is putting new limits on what happens to that video when it hits the platform.
In the Instagram story (first reported by Business Insider), Instagram head Adam Mosseri said the platform will remove videos with smart glasses that show people being harassed or exploited.
“If you post content that exploits people and harasses them, like many of these videos we’ve heard and seen, we will take the content down,” Mosseri said. “We don’t want people to secretly take videos of other people and torture them and post them on our platform,” he added.
The late drop includes formats that include video captures — where creators talk to people who may not realize they’re being recorded — and prank videos aimed at cashiers, fast-food workers, and other workers.
The report also noted that Instagram has blocked two accounts of artists who used smart glasses to film women in public, with more than one million followers. Meta confirmed that the accounts were removed for violating its policy against abusive content, but did not say when the removal took place.
Meta also did not explain how Instagram will determine if an interaction is abusive, or how many posts and accounts have been removed. But recent incidents show why the platform is under pressure to draw a clear line – and how much damage can be done before a video is taken down.
Why Meta’s smart glasses have raised privacy concerns
Meta debuted its Ray-Ban smart glasses in 2021 and has since expanded its wearable lineup through collaborations with Oakley and Kylie Jenner. Depending on the model, the glasses can record photos and videos, play audio, make calls, and respond to requests with Meta AI. Meta also makes it easy for users to upload photos of their smart glasses to Instagram, and this content is often referred to as “Made with Meta Ray-Ban.”
Mashable Trend Report
A small white LED on the front lights up when the camera is working. In a statement on July 7, Meta said its second-generation glasses automatically disable the camera when it detects the light is off — a response to reports of users interfering with the recording indicator. People in at least 30 states even offer this abuse as a service, according to reporter Joanna Stern. Meta also said it is removing ads, posts, and Marketplace listings that provide services that interfere with Meta Ray-Ban.
That understanding has helped fuel an ecosystem of trolling, trolling, and trolling accounts designed to film strangers without their knowledge. The creators secretly recorded attempts to get women’s phone numbers in gyms, airports, bars, shops and on public streets. Women are then exposed to an audience that may scrutinize their appearance, sexualize them, or criticize how they responded to interactions they did not know the content of.
Back in April, one woman found online footage of a man asking for her number after recording their conversation with smart glasses. He said the video was posted even though he refused permission.
Some videos use unsuspecting store and restaurant workers as participants in pranks, brawls, or deliberately uncomfortable conversations. In one recurring game of Meta Mirrors, creators sprinkle a foul-smelling substance on a candle, then approach Walmart shoppers or employees and ask them to smell it. In one video, the creator placed fake feces in the toilet of a fast food restaurant, then asked an unsuspecting cashier to leave the counter to check.
There’s more: one creator recorded visits to massage parlors and used suggestive captions to tease graphic pay-per-view versions. One built an Instagram page around forbidden women’s bodies. After Mashable provided Meta with those examples back in January 2026, the company suspended both accounts for violating its adult sexual exploitation policy.
Former prank creator Brad Podray, formerly known online as Scumbag Dad, told Mashable in January that creators tend to target women and service workers because they’re more likely to give actionable reactions when they’re unable or unwilling to confront the person filming them.
“They’re looking for people who are good on camera, so they’re going to hit on fast food workers, and they’re going to hit on pretty girls,” Podray said. “Most traveling women don’t want to participate in a skit if you ask them to, so they completely remove agency by running glasses.”
Meta warned in an October 2025 statement that “people should not use it to do dangerous things like harassment, violate privacy rights, or capture sensitive information.” The company issued the warning after the University of San Francisco posted a campus security advisory. Many women have reported that a man wearing Ray-Ban Meta sunglasses has approached them with unwanted comments and inappropriate dating questions. The university said it may have been recording the communication of the artists’ accounts on Instagram and TikTok.
Meta mirrors, of course, are used for many legitimate purposes beyond this inappropriate and often immoral content. Many wearers use them to capture travel, sports, concerts, and everyday moments from a first-person perspective without holding a phone. The glasses can also play music, make calls, send messages, translate conversations, answer questions about what’s around you, and give you directions or reminders with Meta AI. Athletes and creatives also use them to record hands-free photos, while blind and visually impaired users can ask the glasses to read labels, identify objects, choose clothes, and describe their surroundings.
Still, as glasses become more common and harder to differentiate from regular eyewear, Instagram’s challenge will be to prevent creators from finding new ways to turn that insight into content at someone else’s expense.
