Meta, formerly Facebook, on Thursday announced initiatives in India to ensure women’s safety on the platform, including measures to combat the spread of non-consensual intimate images and the unveiling of ‘Women’s Safety Hub’ in Indian regional languages.
“At Meta, building a safe online experience has been a priority,” said Karuna Nain, director, Global Safety Policy at Meta Platforms Inc. “While we continue to build and invest to ensure online safety, the launch of these initiatives today is another step towards our commitment,” Ms. Nain added.
The company announced the roll-out of StopNCII.org, which is available globally, to combat the spread of non-consensual intimate images (NCII). “In partnership with U.K. Revenge Porn Helpline, StopNCII.org builds on Meta’s NCII Pilot, an emergency programme that allows potential victims to proactively hash their intimate images so they can’t be proliferated on its platforms,” the company said.
It also announced the introduction of the ‘Women’s Safety Hub’ in Hindi and 11 other Indian languages to enable more women users in India to access information about tools and resources that can help them make the most of their social media experience, while staying safe online. “This key initiative by Meta will ensure millions of women, especially non-English speakers, do not face a language barrier in accessing information easily that will enable them to stay safe online,” it added.
The hub hosts safety resources women need when navigating the platform. It includes specific resources for women leaders, journalists and survivors of abuse. It also contains video-on-demand safety trainings and allows visitors to register for live safety training hosted in multiple languages. “Developed in consultation with various non-profit partners around the world, the safety hub, besides English, will also be available in Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bengali, Odia, Assamese, Kannada and Malayalam,” it added.
Meta has announced the first Indian members — Bishakha Datta, executive editor, Point of View, and Jyoti Vadehra, head of Media & Communications, Centre for Social Research, for its Global Women’s Safety Expert Advisors. The group comprises 12 other non-profit leaders, activists, and academic experts from different parts of the world and consults for Meta in the development of new policies, products and programmes to better support women on its apps.
“India is an important market for us and bringing Bishakha and Jyoti on board to our Women’s Safety Expert Advisory Group will go a long way in further enhancing our efforts to make our platforms safer for women in India,” Ms. Nain added on the appointment of Indian members on Meta’s Safety Advisory Board.
Madhu Singh Sirohi, Meta’s head of Policy Programs and Outreach, India, said: “In the past year when normalcy was upended, social media played a significant role in the personal and professional lives of women, not only for connecting with friends and families but also as an enabler to entrepreneurship. With our recent initiatives, we understand there is a massive opportunity for us to further the positive impact of social media platforms on women by addressing digital inclusion gaps and ensuring women have a safe environment to engage online.”
