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Facebook to roll out suicide prevention tools
Sydney, March 27
Popular social media site
Facebook will introduce suicide prevention and support tools for
vulnerable Australian users in the coming months, a company official has
said.
The initiative, which was welcomed by mental health groups
when it was unveiled in the US earlier this year, allows users to
report concerning online posts, The Brisbane Times reported on Friday.
The
posts are then reviewed by Facebook, which can then send the original
poster a message of support or advice on where to seek professional
help.
Mia Garlick, Facebook's Australia and New Zealand policy
head, said that the company was working with the Young and Well
Cooperative Research Centre on a localised version of the suicide
prevention initiative.
"All the feedback has been strong and
powerful from a lot of the clinical experts and we're looking forward to
rolling that out in Australia in the coming months," she told Fairfax
Media.
The Mark Zuckerberg-led Facebook has also ramped up its
campaign to tackle bullying, taking its approach off screen for the
first time in Queensland during a workshop with students and teachers
last week.
Garlick said that initial reports of abuse or bullying
online were handled by teams working round-the-clock in the US, Ireland
and India. There was also Australian staff that could work with police
if required.
However, Garlick said that the social network did
not keep statistics on the bullying complaints it received, or data on
who the culprits and victims were.
"We don't have those
statistics and sometimes I'm not sure that statistics help us tell the
story. For every person who does get bullied, it's such a strong and bad
situation that almost looking at the numbers doesn't help," she said.
"What we want to do is solve (problems) every single time it happens and make sure those people feel supported."
Garlick
welcomed the announcement of Australia's first children's e-safety
commissioner, who has the power to fine Facebook Aus$17,000 (nearly
$13,300) a day if it does not comply with takedown orders for offensive
material.
It still remains unclear what will happen if the social media site does not agree with an order made by the commissioner.
"We'll
have to cross that bridge when we come to it. We've been engaged with
the Australian government for many years when it comes to what
constitutes harassing and bullying content," Garlick said.
"For bullying and harassing content, we try and act on it within a 24-hour timeframe..." she added.