- A new Twitter plugin called “Safe DM” launched Friday, and is designed to block and delete unsolicited nude images in people’s private Twitter messages.
- Developer Kelsey Bressler built the artificial intelligence behind the plugin by putting out an open call for nude images of penises (colloquially referred to as “dick pics”) on Twitter.
- Bressler received over 4,000 images in total, and hopes to roll the plugin out to other social media platforms.
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A developer who got sick of dick pics has developed a plugin for stopping unwanted pictures of penises from reaching their intended recipients.
Twitted launched a new plugin called “Safe DM” on Friday, the purpose of which is to block and delete unsolicited nudes sent via direct message on the platform.
The feature was made by developer Kelsey Bressler, who got the idea for it after receiving an unwanted picture of a penis (colloquially known as a “dick pic”) from a man last year.
Bressler used artificial intelligence to build the plugin and trained its algorithm on pictures of penises she solicited using a callout on Twitter. According to the BBC over 4,000 pictures were sent in, and Safe DM’s Twitter activity indicates it was still receiving pictures from volunteers up until the end of last month.
I’m soliciting dick pics at the handle @showyodiq .
This is not a joke.
I am testing a filter that is under development which will automatically detect dick pics in DMs and handle them on behalf of the user (delete, delete&block).
18+ , consensual, human dicks only please.
— K E L S E Y (@raeBress) September 5, 2019
For now the plugin is only for Twitter direct messages, but Bressler told the BBC she’s in early talks with another major social media company to adapt the plugin for use on its platform. “We would like to roll this out on other social media platforms and are discussing where to go next,” she said.
Twitter is far from the only platform where cyberflashing is an issue. A 2018 YouGov survey found 46% of millennial women polled had received an unsolicited dick pic.
Bressler told the BBC the software has a 99% success rate, and BuzzFeed reporter Cameron Wilson tested its accuracy. Wilson concluded the filter works, although he noticed a two-to-three minute lag. The filter also blocked various images of objects resembling penises including a blue dildo, a suggestively-shaped tube of lipstick, and some phallic pitcher plants.
SEE ALSO: Sending unsolicited dick pics is now illegal in Texas, and could result in a $500 fine
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