Big tech companies commit to improve women online safety
Big tech companies Facebook, Google, TikTok and Twitter have announced joint actions to tackle online abuse and improve women’s safety on their platforms. The actions were announced in connection with UN Generation Equality Forum in Paris.
The four giants have signed up to the pledge, led by the World Wide Web Foundation (WWWF).
The companies have committed to building better ways for women to curate their safety online by:
- Offering more granular settings (e.g. who can see, share, comment or reply to posts)
- Using more simple and accessible language throughout the user experience
- Providing easy navigation and access to safety tools
- Reducing the burden on women by proactively reducing the amount of abuse they see
Implement improvements to reporting systems by:
- Offering users the ability to track and manage their reports
- Enabling greater capacity to address context and/or language
- Providing more policy and product guidance when reporting abuse
- Establish additional ways for women to access help and support during the reporting process
“During our consultations on online gender-based violence and abuse, women expressed a need for greater control over who can comment or reply to their posts, as well as more choice over what they see online, when they see it and how they see it”, the companies said in a statement.
“Women also repeatedly highlighted the need for improved reporting systems, so they can be better supported when they do receive violent or abusive content.”
The companies have committed to exploring and testing prototypes and solutions developed during the workshops. This includes features that let women better manage who can engage with their posts and more options to filter certain types of content, as well as strengthening reporting systems so users can track and manage reports of abuse.
The companies say they will also ensure that solutions are addressed within a set and clear time frame and will regularly publish and share meaningful data and insights on their progress in implementing these commitments.
The WWWF will report annually on how tech companies have progressed in achieving these commitments.
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