The information on this page is adapted with permission from Prevention by Designby lead authors Lena Slachmuijlder and Sofia Bonilla.
Design platforms with privacy-centric default settings that limit profile visibility and personal information exposure, such as hiding friends lists and controlling discoverability. Privacy-first default practices reduce the risk of targeted harassment by limiting exposure to unknown users. By designing for maximum privacy from the outset, platforms can create a safer starting point for all users, especially those at greater risk of TFGBV.
Examples
TikTok’s Video Interaction Controls: With Duet and Stitch set to “off” by default, users can choose to enable these features each time they post a video.
Instagram’s Privacy Defaults for Minors: Automatically sets accounts for new users under 18 to private, ensuring safer interactions. This could be applied to all accounts (including women) for safer experiences at the onset of profile creation.
India’s Locked Profiles Initiative: When Facebook activated locked profiles for women in India by restricting access to photos and posts, it resulted in significantly reduced harassment. One account illustrates the feature’s impact: Next to an image of an Indian woman covering her face with a saree, a common tradition, the woman shared that she received 367 friend requests and comments like “very beautiful” and “where do you live.” After enabling Facebook’s "locked profile" feature, introduced in India in 2020, the unsolicited messages stopped. “By June 2021, the feature had been adopted by 34% of women users in India, said the internal report.”
India’s Locked Profiles: Women should be able to have public profiles without fear of harassment. The restrictions should really be placed on perpetrators, not the victims of harassment on Facebook.