Meta's Ray-Ban Glasses Users Film and Harass Massage Parlor Workers

Hey there,

We’ve written a few articles about how Ray-Ban Meta glasses are being used to violate people’s privacy, an entirely predictable result of embedding a small camera in a pair of glasses. We’ve seen them used by ICE, modified to remove their recording light, and embedded with facial recognition tech. Somehow, today’s story manages to find a new low for Ray-Ban Meta glasses users: harassing people who work at massage parlors. It’s a new shocking genre of video that gets people clicks, but it puts the people who are in the videos at great risk.

-Emanuel

A number of Instagram accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers and millions of views have uploaded videos filmed with Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses show men entering massage parlors across the country and soliciting the workers there for “tuggy” massages, or sex work. In some cases, the women laugh at the men, dismiss them, or don’t understand what they’re talking about, but in a few cases they discuss specific sex acts and what they would cost.

It doesn’t appear that the women in the videos know they are being filmed and that the videos are being shared online, where they’re viewed by millions of people. In some cases, the exact location of the massage parlor is easy to find because the videos show its sign upon entering. This is extremely dangerous to the women in the videos who can be targeted by both law enforcement and racist, sexist extremists. In 2021, a man who shot and killed eight people at massage parlors told police he targeted them because he had a “sexual addiction."

The videos show how Meta has built an entire supply chain for dangerous, privacy violating content on the internet. It sells glasses that allow people to surreptitiously film others in public and operates a social network where inflammatory, outrageous content is rewarded and monetized, and where Instagram often only moderates violating content after journalists reach out for comment. 

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The most popular of these accounts, which had more than 600,000 followers and multiple videos with around 2 million views, was served to me while scrolling Reels. Many of the videos are tagged on Instagram as “Ray-Ban Meta glasses,” which indicate what device the video was made with. In one video, the person wearing the glasses briefly shows himself in a mirror as he enters a massage parlor. 

After reaching out to Meta for comment, the company asked me for examples of the videos, indicating that it wasn’t able to find them itself. Meta then removed the account I flagged, as well as other accounts by the same creator, who apparently set up multiple accounts in preparation for moderation. 

"People are responsible for following the law, whether or not they're wearing Ray-Ban Metas,” a Meta spokesperson told me in an email. “Unlike smartphones, our glasses have an LED light that activates whenever someone captures content, so it’s clear the device is recording. The content and associated accounts have been removed for multiple policy violations.”

As 404 Media reported last week, people can pay $60 for a modification to Meta’s Ray-Bans to disable that privacy-protecting LED. Amazon and other online retailers also sell various stickers that cover the recording light, but Meta has also updated the Ray-Bans software so it will stop recording if it’s covered. Circumventing or hiding the LED recording light is a common subject on Reddit and a top search result for the product. In the massage parlor video, it’s not clear that the people who are being filmed know they are being filmed, even if the LED light is on. 

Meta also told me its terms of service state that users are responsible for complying with all applicable laws and for using Ray-Ban Meta glasses in a safe, respectful manner. It said people should use them to engage in harmful activities like harassment or capturing sensitive information. 

The people behind the accounts attempt to monetize them by selling access to full videos which they claim capture their sexual encounters at the massage parlor. They link out to an adult pay-per-view service called No Fans, which allows users to buy and view adult content without creating an account. One video on Instagram that’s pitched as a “Latina House Call” sends viewers to No Fans to buy the full video. On No Fans, users can buy the “Latina Tuggy Bundle” for $28.49. 

This gives them access to four videos, but the locations and people in those videos look nothing like anything that’s been posted to Instagram. It’s not clear if the people who are making the Instagram videos ever actually go through with the sex work they talk about. Several of the Instagram videos end with them saying they’re going to go get more cash from an ATM and exit the massage parlor. 

Angela Wu, executive director of SWAN Vancouver, an organization that promotes rights and safety of migrant and immigrant women engaged in sex work, told me that the organization is aware of these accounts and that workers who face privacy concerns at massage parlors mey choose to move to more hidden locations, where they face greater risk of assault, robbery, and exploitation.

"Earlier this year, SWAN Vancouver became aware of disturbing social media videos showing individuals wearing Ray-Ban Meta glasses to enter massage parlours across North America and record interactions with workers. Many of these workers are immigrant and newcomer women who may or may not engage in sex work, but experience stigma nonetheless,” Wu told me in an email. “The shameless use of covert recording technology at massage parlours to gain likes, attention, and online notoriety is both disgusting and dangerous. Due to criminalization and stigma, sex workers face disproportionate levels of violence and harassment. Violations of privacy can lead to arrest, immigration consequences, and lasting harm.”

“SWAN’s community made extensive efforts to report these videos, and we are deeply disappointed that social media platforms allowed them to remain online,” Wu added. “To warn the im/migrant women we support, SWAN used our Abuser Alert system to notify workers about the use of Ray-Ban Meta glasses and the videos circulating online. We also received reports from community members about clients entering massage parlours wearing the glasses and recording women without their knowledge."

Some of the exact same videos were also posted to TikTok. These TikTok accounts also attempt to monetize the videos by linking to full pornographic videos sold through Patreon. 

Another TikTok account, separate from the people also posting to Instagram, also posts first person videos of entering massage parlors and asking for sex work. The person posting this account said that their previous account was banned for violating TikTok community guidelines. That person also shared a video of themselves saying that they’ll stop posting “tuggy” videos because someone stole their Ray-Ban Meta glasses. 

After I reached out for comment, TikTok removed the accounts I asked the company about. “On the question about people being filmed without their knowledge, you may want to reach out to Meta to ask if there are features/ safeguards they've built into the Ray Bans to prevent this,” a TikTok spokesperson told me in an email. “For example, I have a pair and I know there's a little LED light - perhaps this is being disabled or there's some way around this.”

One of the massage parlor Instagram accounts shows that the people behind it tried recording other forms of harassment with Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses before finding the massage parlor niche. Before the massage parlor videos, this person entered various businesses and bothered employees. In one video the person filming the video enters a Best Buy and yells until security asks him to stop.