The Facebook parent company will start using the tech to crack down on scams that use pictures of celebrities to look more legitimate as well as to better assist users who get locked out of their accounts.

Three years after Meta shut down facial recognition software on Facebook amid a groundswell of privacy and regulator pushback, the social media giant said on Tuesday it is testing the service again as part of a crackdown on "celeb bait" scams.

Meta reintroduces facial recognition on Facebook to combat celebrity scam ads, enrolling 50,000 public figures in a trial. The service, initially shut down due to privacy issues, will exclude certain jurisdictions lacking regulatory approval.

Meta is bringing facial recognition tech back to its apps more than three years after it shut down Facebook’s “face recognition” system amid a broader backlash against the technology. Now, the social network will begin to deploy facial recognition tools on Facebook and Instagram to fight scams and help users who have lost access to their accounts,

Meta said Monday that it's testing out new facial recognition tools designed to protect users from celebrity-themed scams, as well as make it faster and easier for all users to recover access if they get locked out of their accounts.

The goal is to help Facebook and Instagram crack down on so-called 'celeb-bait ads,' but facial-recognition tech will also be available for those looking to recover lost accounts.

Meta is gradually releasing facial recognition technology across Facebook and Instagram to help users locked out of their accounts and to spot scam ads that improperly use a celebrity's image. Why it matters: This is the first major expansion of Meta's facial recognition system since its 2021 rollback.