Facebook launches bullying page in its Family Safety Center

Facebook created a new page for its Family Safety Center today, completely focused on bullying and the tools young people can use to make sure they aren’t victimized online.

In March, Facebook introduced its Social Resolution — tools built into a number of Facebook products to help kids deal with bullying on their own on the site. These tools include a “report/remove” option on photos that walks kids through the motions of asking a friend to take an embarrassing picture down.

As Facebook product manager Jake Brill notes, “bullying” on the site doesn’t always mean someone is breaking its policies and terms of service. It could just be a picture of you that is unflattering or embarrassing. Facebook says it has been working with a number of professionals, including teachers, in order to build out its Social Resolution tools, along with the bullying page.

Currently, Facebook has rolled out new features specifically for 13 and 14 year olds that help craft a message to friends when they’d like a photo taken down. You can click “report or remove tag” then “I would like this photo removed form Facebook because:” and then Facebook asks you to fill in a reason before you go on to the next screen. If you click, for instance, “I don’t like this photo,” it will ask you whether it’s a bad photo, embarrassing, shows inappropriate behavior, is offensive, or other. Then a message is written based on your answers for you to send to the “bully.”

Also available on the site are links to a variety of non-profits that helps kids deal with bullying. Check out the Family Safety Center here.

The company is also partnering with the Ad Council, which is putting out a new advertising campaign around “bully prevention.” Facebook says that not only does it back the Ad Council’s advertising — which will appear on television, in print, and online — but it is using some of that content in its own “Stop Bully Speak Up” program. This is an awareness campaign created by Facebook that posts content about bullying and gives advice on how to deal with a bully, but for the most part lives as a Facebook fan page. It recently hit one million likes, and according to Facebook, more than 140,000 people “have taken the pledge to be more than a bystander.”

Bullying image via Shutterstock