Facebook launches ‘Report it. Don’t Share it’ campaign
Facebook has launched a campaign for National Child Protection Week, titled ‘Report it. Don’t Share it’.
The announcement:
Facebook is launching a new Public Service Announcement (PSA), ‘The Report. Don’t Share it.’ campaign with support from safety experts, as part of National Child Protection Week.
The ‘Report it. Don’t Share it’ campaign aims to educate Australians about the harm caused by sharing images or videos of child abuse, and how people should report this kind of content to law enforcement and Facebook. Facebook has a zero tolerance for any behaviour that exploits children and uses sophisticated technology to proactively find and remove this content, and works with law enforcement, safety partners and NCMEC to prevent it from being shared further.
Research released by Facebook, estimates more than 75% of shares of child exploitation material did not exhibit malicious intent, but were reportedly shared for other reasons, such as to express anger or outrage or condemn it. To help educate Australians on the harm this is causing, Facebook is running this education campaign to prevent and eradicate the sharing of this type of content from their platforms.
In support of the National Child Protection Week, ’Every child, in every community, needs a fair go’, Facebook will run this PSA across their platforms with support from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the Australian eSafety Commissioner.
Mia Garlick, Director of Public Policy, Australia and New Zealand at Facebook commented: “What our research highlighted is we need to do more to educate Australians on the harms they may be inadvertently causing when forwarding this type of material. Launching this PSA today to our Australian community, will help them understand the best thing they can do if they receive this type of content is report it to the authorities and not forward it on.
“Preventing and eradicating online child sexual exploitation and abuse requires a cross-industry approach, and Facebook is committed to doing our part to protect children on and off our apps. We are taking a research-informed approach to develop effective solutions and tools that will disrupt the sharing of child exploitation material. We will continue to collaborate with our Australian and global industry safety partners and law enforcement to keep children safe on our services.”
Facebook recommends anyone who receives or sees this type of content should immediately report it to Facebook at facebook.com/safety/onlinechildprotection, so Facebook can put in measures to prevent it from being shared further online. You can also report it to their local police station, or call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, in which they can do so anonymously and for free.
Source: Facebook Australia media release
