Meta introduces new safety initiatives for women

Meta (also known as Facebook launched a series of initiatives to try and improve the digital safety of women and children online across all its social media platforms. The tech company launched the initiative named StopNCII.org and the UK Revenge Porn Helpline. 

This initiative aims to create an emergency program that allows possible victims, who get treated by non-consensual intimate images and its circulation on the net. The NCII is set to proactively hash any flagged intimate images and try to stop them from getting circulated multiple times on social media platforms owned by Meta. 

Meta also announced the initiation of The Women’s Safety Hub. A one stop hub available at all times to access information about tools and resources which can help women be comfortable online and have a safe online experience through multiple platforms. 

The program is set to be launched in 12 Indian languages namely Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bengali, Odia, Assamese, Kannada and Malayalam. This is done to provide easy access to such safety information and trivia with millions of women who are active online.  

The WSH will include information on safety resources women would require as they navigate social media platforms. The hub is also set to host specific information for women who are put in the spotlight due to their positions and jobs.

Who come under women leaders, working women, women journalists and abuse and accident survivors. The initiative is also set to additionally have a library of video on demand safety training which women can access in multiple languages.  

Meta also simultaneously launching a Child Protection Hub in 12 different Indian languages to drive the online child safety initiative. 

From twitter to meta all social media platforms are today vocal about fake information and cyber protection, due to the increase in cybercrime and falsified information being circulated online.

These announcements form the social media company comes at a time when Meta is facing serious backlash from the name change and for not being able to track hate speeches circulated during important days.

Social media platforms have been letting aggressive and even fake content to be passed on WhatsApp groups and its Meta platform which needs to be seriously addressed. 

Discussion paper released by Meta

Meta has also released a statement that it will be commissioning and releasing a discussion paper in collaboration with Sattva Consulting named, ‘Connect, Collaborate and Create: Women and Social Media During the Pandemic’.  

This report highlights that only 3 percentage of women are comfortable using social media in comparison with men who utilize 67 percent of time online on different social media planforms.

According to the report, the suggestion to improve women access online is to increase connectivity all over India and especially rural areas. The report also pointed out that a lack of device ownership and digital literacy is the main cause of the digital divide.

With individuals and civil society organizations, the paper suggests different ways to try and close the gender divide that keeps growing every day. Meta promotes the idea of positive impact of social media on women by creating economic, social and emotional well-being of women, especially during the pandemic.