Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during a remote video hearing held by subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee on “The Role of Social Media in Promoting Extremism and misinformation “in Washington on March 25, 2021.
Committee of the House of Representatives for Energy and Trade | Brochure | via Reuters
Facebook said Thursday it would implement new measures to protect vulnerable users in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the country.
“Over the past week, our teams have been working 24 hours a day to do everything possible to help keep people safe,” wrote Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of security policy. in a tweet.
Facebook introduces several new features, including a tool that allows users to block their profiles with a single click, preventing people who are not on the network from downloading their profile pictures or viewing their posts.
Gleicher posted a series of tweets outlining Facebook’s plans. He said the company is launching pop-up alerts for Instagram users in Afghanistan to protect their accounts. It also eliminates the possibility for users to view and search the friends list of Facebook accounts in Afghanistan to protect people from becoming targets.
The Taliban quickly took control of Afghanistan earlier this month after U.S. President Joe Biden kept his promise to withdraw troops and end a 20-year war. The United States has rushed to evacuate thousands of people from Afghanistan by cargo planes, less than two weeks before a self-imposed deadline to leave the country.
“Like so many others, many of us on Facebook have been watching the tragic events unfolding in Afghanistan,” Gleicher wrote.
He said the company’s new tools were developed with the help of comments from activists, journalists and civil society groups. Gleicher added that Facebook has created a special operations center to respond to new threats that appear.
“We know there is not enough alone in a crisis like this, but we are watching closely how the situation develops and we will take steps to help protect people in real time,” Gleicher said. he tweeted.
I’LL SEE: Behind the role of social media in Afghanistan