England and Wales ban Meta Glasses from courtrooms

New York state just made a similar move.

Courts in England and Wales have officially banned Meta glasses, according to a report by The Guardian. Anyone trying to enter court buildings with the glasses will have them confiscated and returned when they leave. His Majesty's Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), which is responsible for all criminal, civil and family courts, is behind the decision.

There's one major reason for this move, and it's the obvious one. Cameras are banned in courtrooms and Meta Glasses have cameras. Meta Glasses go a step further, as users can record footage without anyone really knowing. This means that someone could, theoretically, sit and record an entire court proceeding without anyone being the wiser.

"There are clear restrictions on taking images or videos within courts and tribunals which is why the use of Meta glasses is prohibited," a spokesperson for the court told The Guardian.

Taking images or videos in court buildings without official permission is a crime and can be prosecuted as contempt of court. The HMCTS has carved out an exception for smartphones in the courtroom, so long as they aren't used to record anything. However, it will not be making a similar exception for smart glasses. After all, one cannot surreptitiously affix a smartphone to one's face and film stuff without anyone knowing.

A London court has already run into trouble with smart glasses, though not with the camera system. A man was accused earlier this year of being "assisted or coached in his replies to questions put to him during cross examination" by using smart glasses. This would've been done via built-in speakers and a connection to a nearby smartphone, though the claimant has denied the accusation.

Courts on this side of the pond have also become wary of smart glasses. New York recently announced a similar courtroom ban. This was done explicitly to prevent people from making secret recordings.

It's not just courts that have rejected Meta Glasses and related smart glasses, on the grounds that they can be used to secretly film people. Venues throughout the UK have banned what some call "pervert glasses." This includes the popular pub chain Weatherspoons, various high-end restaurants, members clubs, theaters, music venues and comic book conventions.

People are buying Meta Glasses and filming people without their consent, even posting the videos online. This is especially harrowing for women. A recent University of Sydney study found hundreds of videos on Instagram in which male "pick up artist" content creators secretly filmed women and put the content online. Around 60 percent of these videos showed behavior classified as potential harassment and many of the victims were identified and doxxed.

Mark Zuckerberg and his team don't seem terribly concerned about the pushback to these products. The Meta CEO was recently involved in a high-profile court trial about social media addiction and members of his entourage were wearing the glasses. The judge had to threaten contempt of court to get them to remove the shady specs.

A spokesperson for Meta told The Guardian that it did not want to comment on the recent court ban. The company sold around 7 million pairs of Meta Glasses in 2025.