As the digital world continues to take shape, the Statista market research firm reported on the scope of this increasing trend. In January 2024, Statista noted the existence of 5.35 billion global Internet users. This figure represents 66.2 percent of the world’s population.

With the above total as a baseline, 5.04 billion people are social media users. Although many adults use social media such as Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), teenagers and young adults often gravitate to social media apps. Yubo, a Paris-based live social discovery platform, is a major player in this Gen Z social media arena. The company prioritizes online user safety.

Safer Internet Day Promotes “Responsible Online Behavior”

The annual Safer Internet Day focuses on young users’ online safety. Organized by European social networks INHOPE and Insafe, this distinctive event takes place each year in February. In 2024, the UK has designated February 6 as Safer Internet Day.

This much-anticipated global event brings together stakeholders from companies, institutions, and non-governmental organizations (or NGOs) in over 150 countries. Participants share resources for young Internet users along with their parents, caregivers, and educators.

In 2024, Safer Internet Day will celebrate its 21st anniversary. Yubo will again serve as a corporate event sponsor. This initiative demonstrates the company’s ongoing commitment to creating a safer Internet for over 60 million young users in more than 140 countries.

Yubo Safety Board Member Alex Holmes Highlights Anti-Bullying Initiatives

Yubo’s respected Safety Board provides expert guidance for the platform’s online safety policies and practices. Each Safety Board member is a recognized expert in a specific online safety discipline. These dedicated professionals also provide leadership to their respective organizations across the globe.

Yubo Safety Board member Alex Holmes is The Diana Award’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer (or CEO). The target of childhood bullying behaviour, Alex Holmes, founded the UK-based Anti-Bullying Ambassadors Program. To date, this peer-to-peer support effort has trained over 50,000 students in more than 5,000 UK and Irish schools.

In November 2023, Yubo marked Anti-Bullying Week UK with a timely interview with Safety Board member Alex Holmes. Alex discussed the widespread problem of bullying and hate speech and offered tips to help young people cope with this issue. Alex Holmes also provided recommendations to social media platforms ready to support their young users.

The Wide-Ranging Scope of Bullying Behavior

Alex Holmes noted that young people often face in-person bullying (at home or school) and online bullying (on messaging apps or social media). Although in-person bullying is considerably more common, online bullying also counts for a significant portion of bullying behaviour. Bullying can have a physical, verbal, emotional, and/or prejudicial component.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, locked-down students were not subjected to in-person bullying. However, their increased use of online platforms heightened their negative message receipt risks. These young people also experienced increased online bullying behaviour.

Alex Holmes acknowledged that many young people recognize online bullying behaviour. However, they often lack the skills to deal with or report the problem. To make matters worse, the bully may be popular in their peer group, so they’re likely to find support for their negative tactics. And even if the social media platform issues a hate speech ban, community members are still free to share the bully’s content.

The Diana Award’s Three-Pronged Anti-Bullying Efforts

To combat the growing online bullying problem, Alex Holmes of The Diana Award developed the Anti-Bullying Ambassadors Program. This landmark initiative helps students learn how to handle school-based bullying behaviour. The Program also provides needed resources to teachers and other key personnel.

Alex Holmes also offered advice for young people exposed to hate speech and bullying. First, Alex advised them to avoid negative comments and instead support the person dealing with the bullying behaviour. Reporting negative behaviour is also a good strategy. Finally, Alex recommended taking a break from social media to enjoy family and offline activities for a change.

Next, Alex Holmes emphasized The Diana Award’s emphasis on young users’ contributions to the solution. Toward that end, Alex encouraged young social media users to educate themselves and their communities about anti-bullying programs. Alex also urged social media platforms (including Yubo) to further involve young users in anti-bullying and online safety discussions.

Recommendations for Social Media Platforms

Equally importantly, Alex Holmes called for social media platforms to proactively inform and protect young users. These suggested tactics include the adoption of more user-friendly language. The platforms should also offer user protection while guarding against platform overreach. Finally, Alex Holmes stated that human moderators should never be replaced by AI algorithms lacking the human element.

Yubo’s 7-Part Program Fights Online Bullying and Hate Speech

Alex Holmes noted that Yubo stands out among major social media platforms. For starters, this leading live social discovery app emphasizes building online friendships rather than racking up “likes” and “follows.” The latter phenomenon has been criticized for potentially leading vulnerable young users to compare themselves to others. Alex Holmes also summarized seven key components of Yubo’s online safety program.

• 100% Age Verification (or AVS): Created with Yoti, the AVS verifies every prospective user’s age and identity. The Yoti technology is 98.9% accurate for every age, skin tone, and gender. The valuable AVS feature minimizes fake profile submissions.

• Overarching Community Guidelines: Yubo does not tolerate bullying, threats, or intimidation against other platform users. Skilled Safety Specialists deliver consequences for Community Guidelines violations.
• Human and AI Content Moderation: Yubo’s Human Safety Specialists and the AI algorithm constantly monitor platform activity. When bullying is detected or a user reports an incident, a Safety Specialist takes immediate action.
• Real-time User Interventions: Users who violate the Community Guidelines see a pop-up alert explaining the problem and urging them to revise their behaviour. The user learns what will happen if they don’t take this action.
• The “Muted Words” Feature: Yubo users can easily block a word, phrase, abbreviation, or emoji they deem harmful or offensive.
• User Reporting Tool: Yubo asks all users to report inappropriate behaviour or content. During 2023’s first half, 24% of user reports pertained to bullying, while 12% related to hate speech or discrimination.

• In-app User Campaigns: Yubo partners with The Diana Award to include anti-bullying campaigns inside the Yubo app.

Yubo’s Ongoing Commitment to User Safety

Yubo continues collaborating with The Diana Award and other organizations dedicated to online user safety. With the Yubo Safety Board’s guidance, the company proactively develops new safety policies and procedures designed to protect its young platform users as they engage online. As new challenges and opportunities arise, Yubo will continue to demonstrate its leadership in the global social media arena.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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