INTERNATIONAL: No more facial recognition in Facebook. Facebook Incorporated has announced on Tuesday that it is shutting down its facial recognition system. This system automatically identifies users in photos and videos, citing growing societal concerns about the use of such technology.

The removal of face recognition by the comes as the world's largest social media platform faced a reckoning over the past few years over the ethics of using the technology. Different reports say facial recognition technology could compromise privacy, targetting marginalized groups and normalize intrusive surveillance. It is popular in many industries and business for security purposes.

The news comes as Facebook has been under intense scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers over safety and a wide range of abuses on its platforms. Vice president of artificial intelligence at Facebook, Jerome Pesenti, has released a statement saying regulators are still in the process of providing a clear set of rules governing its use.

The social media company, which last week renamed itself Meta Platforms Incorporated says more than one-third of Facebook's daily active users have opted into the face recognition setting on the social media site, and the change will now delete the "facial recognition templates" of more than 1 billion people. Accordingly, the removal will roll out globally and is expected to be completed by December.