The information on this page is adapted with permission from Prevention by Designby lead authors Lena Slachmuijlder and Sofia Bonilla.
While using many functions of a social media site have a low potential for abuse (scrolling a feed, liking posts, etc), certain functions within any piece of technology have a higher potential for abuse.
By requiring proof of identity in order to access these functions, intentional bad actors will find abusing these systems less attractive as a means of perpetrating abuse.
Examples
Verification badges: Facebook, Instagram, and X all offer account verification badges
AI behavioral analysis after account creation: use AI to conduct an ongoing behavioral analysis of profile content and activity that will raise flags if behavior suddenly changes (expresses extreme views, engages with questionable content)
With improvements in AI, voice and facial recognition are becoming harder to easily trick with uploaded photos or previously captured voice recordings. But vigilance is key as deepfakes and voice cloning advance as well.
Limitations
Identity verification can be difficult to perform virtually for many reasons.
While taking a photo of an ID for upload has been a standard procedure in this realm in the past, it can be difficult to catch fakes. And as always, bad actors methods continue to adapt (deepfakes, voice cloning), so our verification systems must as well.
Identify verification can also be a barrier for some populations that are disproportionately impacted by abuse to access their own safe communities or other forms of support.
Some companies have begun using NFC chips in passports in combination with NFC-chip readers in mobile phones as a means of securing their identity verification to the security of various governments own identity verification. But this is a system inaccessible to those who do not have passports, such as those in abusive relationships who are not allowed to travel.
Verification badges: Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and X now offer a paid subscription fee for the verification and the blue profile badge, which both instills economic barriers for those unable to pay (although there is a free path for verification if you meet requirements on Facebook and Instagram) and causing confusion over the legitimacy of account verification. Once you are verified, you cannot change your username
Facial scanning: Privacy concerns/storing/retention of identifiable information
MFA: The secondary alert can be difficult to hide in controlling environments / dangerous domestic abuse situations