Facebook has redesigned its Safety Center to have a greater focus on cyber-bullying.
The update brings the Bullying Prevention Hub to everyone on Facebook. The Hub is a resource for teens, parents and educators seeking guidance on how to prevent and address online trolling and other forms of cyber-bullying. Developed with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence in 2013, Facebook has expanded its focus with nearly 60 partners around the world to make the Bullying Prevention Hub more widely available.
The new Safety Center also walks people through the tools Facebook offers to control their social experience, as well as numerous tips and resources for safe and secure sharing. The Safety Center is available in more than 50 languages and includes step-by-step videos on a variety of popular safety topics.
The ability to control social content in one’s feed has become a hot topic in the wake of various troubling incidents being captured on Facebook Live, the social network’s video broadcast capability. That includes at least one suicide.
“We always have to consider the situations in which our technology will be used, so that we can offer people the best security and safety for what they need,” said Alex Stamos, chief security officer at Facebook.
Stamos recently gave a keynote address at the CyberXchange security conference in Lagos, Nigeria Facebook, about two months after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg traveled to Nigeria and Kenya to meet with developers, partners, and entrepreneurs about improving regional online safety resources. Facebook has worked with partners including the International Center for Leadership Development in Nigeria and Watoto Watch Network in Kenya on expanding the Bullying Prevention Hub there.
He addressed non-ideal circumstances that security professionals often overlook—such as weak password usage or running out-of-date devices, noting that Facebook performs automated checks to help detect suspicious logins to protect people's accounts, and that it ships its own cryptography with the mobile app to make people more secure on those devices.
“People come to Facebook to share important and personal moments in their lives,” Stamos said. “That's why we build our services and tools to help people remain in control and protect their accounts.”
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