Facebook Adds Anti-Bullying Tools To Help Reduce Harassment

Facebook has introduced new tools to help its users deal with bullying and other similar issues. The biggest feature is arriving first for Android and desktop users, followed later on by iOS. With it, anyone can delete or hide a large batch of comments at the same time on posts that attract bullies. The company also has a new policy on engaging with public figures and more.

According to Facebook, it is adding new ways to help users manage their posts, doing this by enabling a way to hide or delete more than one comments on a post at the same time. This new option is found within the Options menu of the post, that being available first on Android and desktop. The same feature will arrive on iOS "in coming months," says Facebook.

As well, the company says it is working on a way for users to easily find and then block offensive words that are found in comments. This feature is in testing and doesn't seem to be generally available at this time. Likewise, Facebook has added the ability for users to report harassment or bullying directed at someone else from the post where the comments are found.

To deal with potential false reports, Facebook is also opening is appeals process to bullying and harassment violations. If a user has content removed for either reason, they will be able to ask Facebook to conduct another review of the content and verify whether it is was properly removed.

Finally, the company says that it has a new policy regarding public figures. Though these users can be the subject of criticism and debate, Facebook says it won't tolerate "severe attacks" and similar harassment directed at these public personalities. These users have the ability to block users without those people knowing and also the option to report them.

SOURCE: Facebook Newsroom