Facebook Launches New Safety Tools and Measures to Protect Children Online

As New Jersey students, parents and educators prepare for the new school year with the uncertainty of how the Covid-19 pandemic will continue to impact classroom experience—and with the surging Delta variant raising the issue of hybrid and remote learning as an ongoing component or option in education– Facebook has launched a new Child Safety Hub to support parents and educators in adjusting and preparing for digital tools being a part of every child’s education and social interactions.

The Child Safety Hub centralizes information and resources designed to create the safest digital experience for children. The new hub is a one-stop-shop for tips, tools, training and other resources for parents, caregivers, and educators to help kids navigate digital experiences beyond Facebook or Facebook Messenger for Kids more safely. A few examples of these resources include privacy check-up, bullying prevention tips, and online safety training.

Digital technology, social networking platforms and online tools are providing the solutions for people to work at their jobs, attend school, run their businesses and stay connected to their friends, families and loved ones during life under the realities of the pandemic, but this expanded reliance on these tools has also proven the need to protect children online. Facebook is taking additional steps to keep young people safe online, including:

• Working with teachers across the country to help children become safe digital citizens through the Get Digital Program, which provides lessons and resources to help young people develop the competencies and skills they need to more safely navigate the internet.
• Introducing a number of product changes to better prioritize safety and privacy as defaults across our platforms, including establishing private accounts for people under 16, stopping potential violators from finding and contacting teens, and more strongly restricting how advertisers can reach teens.
• Leveraging the expertise of our Youth Global Advisors, an external group of child safety experts, to ensure children are protected on the platform.
• Featuring additional programming like Beats Unlocked, the partnership with the Girl Scouts of America, which empower young people to learn new skills and take advantage of all the internet has to offer.

  Facebook’s Child Safety Hub can be accessed at: https://www.facebook.com/safety/childsafety

  Facebook’s Get Digital Program for educators can be accessed at: https://www.facebook.com/safety/educators