Social networks are leading platforms when it comes to entertainment. They allow us to send messages to our friends, publish videos and photos, as well as see what others share, stay up to date with viral news and trends…
Although they entertain us and connect us with our loved ones, or bring us closer to famous personalities whom we admire, it is no less true that they also have a negative side, such as addiction to their use.
And another notable problem in these applications is cyberbullying, which is especially prevalent among the younger population. According to data from Save The Children, 75% of young people between 18 and 20 years old have suffered some type of online violence during their childhood. For this reason, social networks themselves implement different tools to address this conflict.
Instagram, a social network belonging to the Meta parent company, announced this November that it will launch an “anti-harassment button” or “safety button” in France, with the aim of putting an end to cyberbullying on its platform. The initiative has been promoted by the private association e-Enfrance.
This system will consist of an option available in the application that allows you to call directly to an emergency line of the aforementioned association, where the user will contact psychologists and lawyers at number 3018, the national help service for victims of digital violence. in France.
From e-Enfrance they have stressed that they had been requesting this secure button for a long time and that they have also requested it at the European level, although for the moment France is the only country where this “anti-harassment button” will be a reality. Although it would be expected that the functionality would be widely extended in the application.
There are many different ways in which violence can occur on the internet and social networks. The most common is cyberbullying, which is very common among minors. It manifests itself in the form of intimidation and social exclusion of a person, as well as the sending of messages, images or videos that are intended to insult, defame, humiliate or harm the victim.
We also find ‘sexting’ without consent, which consists of exchanging messages or images with sexual content. Closely related is the term ‘sextortion’, a violence that occurs when one person blackmails another with the threat of publishing audiovisual content or personal information of a sexual nature that involves them.
‘Online grooming’ is a crime through which an adult person contacts a minor on social networks and gains their trust for sexual purposes. On the other hand, ‘happy slapping’ consists of recording physical, verbal or sexual aggression and subsequently disseminating it through social networks.
