The rising level of online bullying, assaults, and criminal activities deployed through the internet is giving tech companies and consumers sleepless nights across the world. To mitigate the impact of this in Africa, Facebook is partnering with nine non-profit organisations and government agencies throughout sub-Saharan Africa to raise awareness about Internet safety and security.
Announced yesterday during the commemoration of the world’s Safer Internet Day which was marked yesterday February 11. The event was themed “Together for a better Internet”.
The partners is a roll call of Africa’s leading internet and tech based non governmental organisations namely, the South African based Dignify Africa , Phambano Technology Development Centre and Diana Schwartz Attorneys. Others are, the Watoto Watch Network of Kenya, Paradigm Initiative of Nigeria, Child Online Africa from Ghana, Youth First of Madagascar, Computing and Information Association of Tanzania and the Asikana Network of Zambia.
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Addressing the need and importance of enduring that the internet experience in Africa is devoid of negative feedbacks like bullying, body shaming and other criminal activities such as paedophilia and sex trafficking, Ms Jocelyne Muhutu-Rémy Strategic Media Partnerships Manager for Facebook in sub-Saharan Africa said that Facebook is committed to ensuring Facebook and Instagram are places for everyone, especially the youth,.
“That’s why we offer a range of tools on our platforms to give people full control over their experience, and work with our partners to drive awareness about the practices, resources and tools people can use to protect their online wellbeing.”
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To ensure its social media platforms are altered to avoid abuse, Facebook launched new Facebook and Instagram safety tools and resources. These include new tools on Instagram that filter comments that may be inappropriate, offensive or bullying – including keyword filtering, sensitivity screens, offensive comment and bullying filters.
Alsonstagramwe’ve created new ways to stop bullying before it happens. If someone writes a comment or caption for a feed post that AI detects as potentially offensive, they will receive a prompt that the language used is similar to language that has been reported for bullying. They will then have an opportunity to edit the caption or comment before posting. Add to that, the company launched the Instagram Safety Centre, a place where sunsbribers can learn more about the safety features on the Instagram platform.
There is equally the Youth Portal, which is a central place for teens to get a better understanding of Facebook’s products, hear from other peers, and get tips and advice on controlling their experience. This is part of a resource for topics like suicide prevention, social resolution and bullying prevention. To augment this, the form launched an artificial intelligence tool to help identify when someone might be expressing thoughts of suicide, including on Facebook Live and Instagram Live.
Media, communications and psychologists are in agreement that this project will help in no small way to make the internet and most especially the social media and healthy and remarkable experience across the continent.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry