What happens when you report a Facebook message for harassment?

Harassment is unfortunately common on social media platforms like Facebook. If you receive abusive, threatening, or harassing messages on Facebook, you can report them to Facebook for review. But what happens after you report a Facebook message? Here’s an overview of the process.

How do I report a harassing Facebook message?

If you receive an abusive or harassing message on Facebook, you can report it directly from the message itself. Simply click on the drop down arrow in the top right corner of the message and select “Report”. This will bring up a menu where you can choose “Harassment” as the reason for reporting.

You’ll then be prompted to provide more details on why you’re reporting the message. Be sure to clearly explain why you felt the message was harassing or abusive. You can also include screenshots as evidence. Once you submit the report, it will go to Facebook’s content moderation team for review.

What happens when I report a Facebook message?

When you report a harassing Facebook message, here’s a general overview of what happens next:

The message is flagged in Facebook’s system as being reported for harassment.
The report goes to Facebook’s content moderation team for review. This team consists of thousands of human moderators who review reported content.

A moderator reviews the reported message, along with any context or evidence provided. They check if it violates Facebook’s harassment policies.
If the message clearly violates Facebook’s rules, the moderator will remove it. They may also take other actions like disabling the sender’s account.
If the message does not clearly violate policies, the moderator may leave it up but flag the account for additional monitoring.

Facebook aims to review most harassment reports within 24 hours. But it may take longer for a decision in complex cases requiring more context.
Once a decision is made, you will get a notification from Facebook on the outcome of your report.

What criteria do moderators use to assess harassment?

Facebook moderators use very specific criteria when reviewing harassment reports. This includes assessing:

Whether the content attacks a person or group based on protected characteristics like race, gender, religious affiliation, or sexual orientation.
Whether the message includes violent threats or wishes for serious physical harm.
Whether the message aims to shame or degrade someone vs. criticize them.

Whether the sender’s account shows a pattern of harassing behavior vs. an isolated incident.
Whether the message is targeted harassment directed at individuals vs. general negative statements.

Messages that check several of these boxes are more likely to get removed by Facebook. Isolated insults or political rants rarely meet the threshold for harassment.

What happens if Facebook leaves up a harassing message?

With billions of users, Facebook will sometimes make mistakes in assessing harassment reports. If you feel Facebook wrongly left up a harassing message, here’s what you can do:

Appeal the decision. Facebook gives you the option to contest their ruling on a report.
Flag the message again with additional context. New examples of harassment might change a moderator’s decision.

Report the account to Facebook rather than a single message. Accounts with multiple violations get more scrutiny.
Unfriend, block or mute the harasser to avoid further contact.
Reduce public visibility of your profile to limit harassment.

Continually reporting further harassment is the best way to get Facebook to take action against a persistent harasser. But you also need to take steps to protect yourself online.

What actions will Facebook take against harassers?

Facebook has a range of actions it may take against those who engage in harassing behavior. These include:

Removing content – Any messages, posts, or comments that violate Facebook’s rules will get taken down.

Disabling accounts – Serious or repeat harassers may have their accounts temporarily or permanently disabled.
Limiting visibility – Harassers may have their posts’ visibility limited to avoid further spread.
Banning IP addresses – If an individual harasser keeps creating new accounts, Facebook can block their IP.

In addition, Facebook sometimes limits functionality or adds friction to hamper harassers. Examples include:

Limiting how many messages an account can send.
Requiring CAPTCHA completion to post or message.

Restricting access to search, comments, tags, recommendations, and live features.

These frustrations make it more difficult for harassers to abuse others. But the main defenses are removing content and disabling accounts of policy violators.

Are there any legal consequences for harassers?

In some cases, harassers on Facebook may face legal consequences beyond the social network’s actions. This includes:

Civil lawsuits – Victims can file lawsuits against harassers, especially if the harassment caused quantifiable psychological, professional or financial damage.
Criminal charges – If messages contain physical threats or stalking behavior, harassers may face criminal charges like assault or harassment.
Hate crimes – Harassment targeting protected groups may be enhanced to hate crimes with stiffer criminal penalties.

However, legal consequences are fairly rare for online harassment cases. Police and courts have limited resources to prosecute online speech. But persistent and dangerous Facebook harassment should be reported to law enforcement.

What tools does Facebook offer to combat harassment?

In addition to content moderation, Facebook also provides users tools to proactively combat harassment. These include:

Blocking – Prevents a user from seeing your posts or contacting you.

Unfriending – Removes a connection so they can’t see your timeline posts.
Restricting – Lets you put a user in a limited visibility mode.
Filtering messages – Lets you automatically filter harassing messages.

Audience selector – Controls who can see your public posts and profile.

Facebook also offers enhanced security options for public figures, activists, journalists vulnerable to harassment like:

Requiring contributor authentication to comment.

Enabling two-factor authentication.
Turning on login approvals.
Monitoring login notifications.

Activating these security measures helps protect against targeted harassment campaigns.

What steps can I take to avoid Facebook harassment?

While you should feel free to share openly on Facebook, there are some steps you can take to avoid opening yourself up to harassment:

Restrict friends list to people you know and trust.

Limit visibility of posts to friends or smaller friend lists.
Avoid accepting friend requests from strangers.
Be cautious sharing personal details like phone number.

Use max privacy settings for profile and searchability.
Turn off ability for others to tag you.

Harassment is never the victim’s fault. But taking proactive privacy measures reduces your exposure to harassers looking for targets.

Should I delete my Facebook account due to harassment?

Deactivating your Facebook account is an option if you experience severe harassment. But completely deleting Facebook as your response to harassment should be carefully considered. Here are some pros and cons:

Pros	Cons
Removes your immediate exposure to harassment.	Lets harassers “win” and drive you off the platform.
Gives you a fresh start if you later return.	Cuts you off from friends and connections on Facebook.
Provides a mental/emotional break from harassment.	Harassers may find other channels like email or phone to continue harassment.
Allows you to reclaim privacy and personal data.	Still leaves public data traces that future employers or others can access.

Weighing these factors will help you decide if deleting Facebook accounts makes sense for your situation. There are also some middle ground options like temporarily deactivating your account or restricting old posts.

What should I do if a child is being harassed on Facebook?

If your child is facing harassment on Facebook, here are important steps to take:

Report harassing messages to Facebook so they can disable harasser accounts.
Block and unfriend harassers from your child’s account.
Tighten privacy settings to limit who can see posts and search for their profile.

Spend time talking to your child about online behavior and not feeding trolls.
Monitor your child’s Facebook activity more closely for warning signs of bullying.
Contact your child’s school so they can address any harassment coming from classmates.

Sadly, kids face bullying both online and offline. Discuss harassment incidents to offer support and perspective. And remind your child that harassers try to get attention – ignoring them helps defeat their power.

Should I get law enforcement involved for Facebook harassment?

In most cases, the best recourse for Facebook harassment is reporting to Facebook itself to get content removed and harassers banned. But in extreme cases of violent threats, stalking, or coordinated harassment, you may want to get law enforcement involved. Signs this is appropriate include:

Threats of physical harm to you or loved ones.

Ongoing harassment across multiple online platforms.
Sharing of private doxxed information like home address.
In-person stalking behavior tied to online accounts.

Harassment targeting race, gender, religion or other protected classes.

Document any concerning harassment by taking screenshots and making detailed notes. If you feel unsafe due to specific threats, call emergency services immediately. For other cases of severe harassment, file police reports so there is an official record.

What legal rights do I have against Facebook harassers?

Harassment on Facebook may violate state or federal laws in certain cases. Potential legal avenues include:

Civil protection orders – Restraining orders against continued harassing behavior, online or offline.
Anti-stalking laws – Criminal charges for patterns of online stalking and threats.
Anti-discrimination laws – Civil penalties for harassment targeting protected classes.

Hate crime laws – Enhanced penalties for harassment driven by racial/religious hatred.
Defamation – Civil recourse when false statements designed to damage reputation are published.

To pursue legal action requires extensive documentation and a clear case demonstrating damages. But reminding harassers that you are prepared to take legal steps may act as a deterrent.

How can Facebook better combat harassment?

While Facebook has extensive processes to combat harassment, there are steps it can take to further improve protections:

More investment in content moderation teams and AI tools to detect harassing messages.
Stronger default privacy settings to limit unwanted contact and profiling.

Rules requiring verified identity for high visibility pages and groups.
Limits on message forwarding and groups to curb dogpiling.
Restrictions on searching user profiles and commenting on public posts for banned accounts.

Extended temporary or permanent bans for severe violations vs. simple content removal.

Combating harassment means continuing to evolve rules and tools as new abuse tactics emerge. While Facebook has made progress, pressure remains for them to take protection and safety more seriously moving forward.

Conclusion

Online harassment causes very real psychological harm, especially for women, minorities, and youth. But by understanding the process for reporting Facebook harassment and using built-in tools, users can help protect themselves. Documenting abuse is key, as is limiting interactions with harassers. In severe cases, deleting accounts or pursuing legal action may become necessary. While work remains, Facebook has established robust procedures focused on user safety – critical for the billions relying on its global community.