Social media is a great meeting point. We access them without any qualms. And we share personal information. But you already know: there are always those who have to misuse these tools .
Now Facebook has put in place a system with which it wants to prevent some people from hurting others. We talk about revenge porn images and they are usually shared through this platform or other means. As you can imagine, they are intimate photos of another person. And you have not given your consent for them to be published.
According to a study carried out on victims of this type, 93% of those surveyed affirm that the fact of having published this type of porn images out of revenge has caused them significant emotional damage . 82% say that this has had a negative impact on their social aspects, occupations and other fundamental areas of their life.
Porn images for revenge, tools to combat them
Facebook has explained it today on its blog. It has launched a series of tools to help people who find themselves in such unpleasant situations .
From now on, when you see an image of these characteristics, you can report it. It's about everyone collaborating. So a little arrow (or three dots “…”) has been enabled. It's next to the post. A section called Report will be included here.
Facebook account that will have a team of people working to review these types of images. What they will do is study the reported photograph. It is about checking if you are violating the norms of the community.
In fact, those responsible for Facebook indicate on the blog that they will also temporarily block the account for having shared intimate images without permission . To all this, it seems that a period of claims will open. It is in case any image has been deleted by mistake.
New technologies to thwart future attempts
But it does not stop here. Facebook has developed technologies that link similar images. This will try to thwart new attempts to share revenge porn images . It does not matter if it is through Facebook, Messenger or Instagram.
If someone tries to share the photo again, they will receive a warning from Facebook . You will be advised that the image violates Facebook policies. Thus, the publication attempt will have been frustrated.
To be more effective in combating these types of posts, Facebook has partnered with different security experts and organizations. They say they are interested in offering help to victims and in preventing the damage that posting compromised photos can cause to people.
Experts from Spain have also participated
Facebook has worked in conjunction with the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, the National Network against Domestic Violence, the Center for Social Research or the UK Revenge Porn Helpline. During the process of developing this new security system, all these associations were lending their help .
But there is more. Facebook has received feedback from associations and security experts from around the world, including Spaniards .
At the same time, Facebook has explained that henceforth wants to develop new tools and make them available to other companies . They believe that bullying should be able to be fought across the Internet industry, because in fact, it is a global problem.
In Spain, people who have cyberbullying problems or who have seen intimate images published without their consent on the Internet should contact state security agencies. The Civil Guard and the National Police have specific equipment to combat such crimes and are very active on social networks like Facebook or Twitter.