Facebook to battle harassment.
MENLO PARK >> Facebook is doing more to prevent harassment from happening on its social network and messaging app.
On Tuesday, the Menlo Park tech firm introduced new tools to prevent unwanted friend requests and messages.
“We’ve heard stories from people who have blocked someone only to encounter the same harasser using a different account,” wrote Antigone Davis, Facebook’s Global Head of Safety in a blog post.
Using information such as a person’s Internet Protocol (IP) address, Face-
book said the company can recognize if a blocked user creates another account.
The tech firm already has tools to prevent fake and inauthentic accounts from being created on Facebook, but noted that it doesn’t always catch blocked users who create another account.
Facebook, which has about 2 billion users, is also giving users a way to ignore a conversation on Messenger without having to block a user. The conversation would be moved to the filtered messages folder.
Sexual harassment has become a hot button issue in industries such as entertainment, tech, media and politics this year as more women have gone public with allegations as part of a broader movement to fight sexual harassment and assault.
Meanwhile, tech companies such as Facebook are
grappling with how the social network might be dividing people rather than bringing them closer together.
This month, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg wrote about the role power plays, her personal experiences with harassment and what companies should do.
“No one should ever experience harassment, either in person or online,” Sandberg wrote in a post about the new tools released on Tuesday.
The tech firm worked with groups such as The National Network to End Domestic Violence and the Centre for Social Research India to create the new features, she said.
“Everyone deserves to be protected,” Sandberg said. “We’ll keep doing what we can to make sure people feel safe on Facebook.”