Meta, formerly known as Facebook, and its applications, unveiled a set of initiatives targeted at ensuring women's online safety, as well as a project to stop the spread of non-consensual intimate photographs.

The women's safety portal has been expanded to Hindi and 11 other Indian languages, as well as a new platform to check and limit the distribution of non-consensual intimate photos (NCII). Meta has also appointed members of the Indian community to its Global Women's Safety Expert Advisors.

The first initiative, StopNCII.org, is a collaboration with UK Revenge Porn Helpline that builds on the company's NCII Pilot, which was an emergency service that allowed potential victims to hash their private photographs ahead of time. Social Media Matters, the Centre for Social Research, and the Red Dot Foundation have all partnered with the site in India.

Women who have been victims can use the platform to report their cases, and the platform will work with participating firms including Facebook, Linkedin, Bumble, Discord, and others to guarantee that such photographs are removed. Women can use the platform to create their cases and track their progress.

The tool works by creating a hash from someone's personal image(s) or video(s), with each projecting a unique hash value.The hash value of duplicate copies of the image is the same and StopNCII.org then shares it with participating businesses so that they may assist in detecting and removing the photos from the internet.

Next is the Women's Safety Hub which contains tools for female leaders, journalists, and abuse survivors. It also includes video-on-demand safety instruction as well as the ability to enrol for live safety training. It will now be available in Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bengali, Odia, Assamese, Kannada, and Malayalam in addition to Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bengali, Odia, Assamese, Kannada, and Malayalam.

The committee, which includes 12 additional non-profit leaders, activists, and academic experts from around the world, advises Meta on new policies, products, and initiatives aimed at better supporting women on Meta's apps.

To commemorate the milestone, Meta commissioned Sattva Consulting to write a study titled 'Connect, Collaborate, and Create: Women and Social Media During the Pandemic'. The report discusses strategies for addressing India's significant gender disparity in social media usage.

At Meta, building a safe online experience has been a priority and our commitment and efforts to keep women safe are industry leading.

“We are confident that with our ever-growing safety measures, women and children will be able to enjoy a social experience which will enable them to learn, engage and grow without any challenges”, says Karuna Nain, Director, Global Safety Policy, Meta Platforms Inc.

Meanwhile, the report points out that only 33 percent of Indian women use social media, compared to 67 percent of men. The study offers suggestions for bridging the gender difference, which is worsened by challenges such as poor digital literacy, lack of device ownership, and restricted internet availability in remote areas.

On the other hand, Bishakha Datta, Executive Editor at Point of View, and Jyoti Vadehra, Head of Media & Communications at the Centre for Social Research, have been named to Meta's Global Women's Safety Expert Advisors as the first Indian members.