Facebook and Media Literacy Council join hands to prevent cyber bullying

The site, called the Bullying Prevention Centre, provides resources for teens, parents, and teachers in Singapore, was launched here after its success in the United States and Britain. -- PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM FACEBOOK
The site, called the Bullying Prevention Centre, provides resources for teens, parents, and teachers in Singapore, was launched here after its success in the United States and Britain. -- PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM FACEBOOK

SINGAPORE - Facebook and the Media Literacy Council on Monday launched a site for the prevention of cyber bullying.

The site, called the Bullying Prevention Centre, provides resources for teens, parents, and teachers in Singapore, was launched here after its success in the United States and Britain. Its launch comes in time for the Safer Internet Day on Tuesday, a global initiative that invites everyone - young people, parents, teachers, educators, industry and safety organizations - to come together to focus on what can be done to "create a better Internet together".

The site gives people being bullied information on what they can do when they experience something upsetting, recommendations to adults who want to help, as well as guidance to the person accused of bullying on why they have upset someone and how they can make it better, said Facebook and the Media Literacy Council.

Specific actions, including links to Facebook's reporting tools, are listed for each audience. Facebook will also direct anyone who reports bullying via Facebook's reporting tools to the Bullying Prevention Centre.

Professor Tan Cheng Han, Chairman of the Media Literacy Council, said: "The Internet is just like the real world but consequences are often magnified in the online world. It is our collective responsibility to make the world, Internet or otherwise, better."

The site is created by Facebook engineers and Yale Centre for Emotional Intelligence, and it will be promoted to students and teachers through a series of activities run by the Media Literacy Council from Feb 10 to May 2015.

"The new Bullying Prevention Centre is part of our ongoing commitment to provide safeguards to the people who use Facebook, especially young people. We hope that by putting this kind of information at people's fingertips when they need it we will be able to help them resolve these conflicts," said Mia Garlick, head of policy for Facebook Australia and New Zealand.

The site can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/safety/bullying.

jalmsab@sph.com.sg

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