Facebook is the internet’s most popular hub for social interaction, and users love it as a way to stay in touch and post highlights of their lives.
Like almost all corners of the web, however, Facebook has a dark side.
That dark side is found in online harassment and bullying, which can be facilitated by the ease of interaction on Facebook. Bullies can comment on acquaintances status updates or pictures, and they can harass a target even when they can’t see them in person.
A report from Ditch the Label found that 7 in 10 young people have been the victim of cyberbullying. Clearly, this is a widespread problem.
Safety and bullying are something that Facebook takes seriously. They want users to be able to post and interact with an appropriate level of privacy and without worrying unduly about online harassment. They have a number of measures in place to keep their users safe, and all of these are gathered together in Facebook’s Safety Center.
Last week, Facebook announced the relaunch of this center. The original center was created in 2010. The new version is available in over 50 languages, including Danish, although not all resources are available outside of English.
The Safety Center serves as a hub for resources on online safety, including bullying prevention, safety, and privacy.
Within the center, users can find all of Facebook’s Community Standards on privacy and safety. These include rules on what can and cannot be posted and what constitutes harassment. There are also links to privacy tools to control who on Facebook can see your profile and content. Additional resources include specialized guides for military families, women, and baby boomers.
As part of the Safety Center, there is a new Bullying Prevention Hub.
This hub contains resources dedicated to teens, parents, and educators. Teens, for example, can find advice and resources if they are being bullied, if their friend is being bullied, or if they are worried about being a bully themselves. The pages contain straightforward advice about how to make amends and how to get help.
These resources have been developed in consultation with 50 different partners, such as the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, the International Bullying Prevention Association, and the Family Online Safety Institute.
Considering how widespread online bullying and harassment is, hopefully this center will make it easier for at-risk users to find information and resources that will help.
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Written by content manager Meghan Woolley
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