Facebook users can now tell a “trusted friend” if they
feel they are being bullied or harassed online, thanks to a new option
introduced by the popular social networking site.
Facebook
has said that its reporting option allows members to alert someone in
their support system, like parents or teachers, to the problem so that
online behaviour is linked to “real world consequences”.
“Often
the best way of sorting offensive content is for friends to flag those
things to each other. In the real world you have a sense of when you
need to escalate something to the right organisation.
“If someone is calling you names, it might not be appropriate to go directly to the police,” the Daily Mail quoted Facebook’s Director of European Policy Richard Allan as saying.
However,
the social networking site said users would be put in contact with
police or suitable organisations in the event of more serious concerns.
Screenshots
of the new safety options reveal that users could, for example, select a
tick box that says a new photo is “harassing or bullying me”.
The
user can choose to block the person who posted the offending material
but can also “Get help from a trusted friend”, with the option to send a
message to a friend or person of responsibility.
The
website also confirmed it was simplifying the language of its safety
centre and adding more multimedia material to make the site safer and
easier to use.
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