Facebook is introducing two new features that aim to fight harassment by preventing unwanted contact.
Often times, a user will block someone who is harassing them, but that person will create another account and attempt to make contact again. Facebook will now use various factors, like the IP address where an account originates, to prevent the owner from sending messages or friend requests to a user that’s already blocked them.
The person who did the blocking will now have to originate the contact.
Users will also now be able to tap on a message in the Messenger app and choose Ignore. That will disable notifications and move it to your Filtered Messages folder.
You’ll be able to read the message without the sender being notified that it’s been read. It’s available for individual conversations and will soon be ready for group messages.
Facebook has also introduced a new feature to notify you if someone has posted photos of you, even if you haven’t been tagged. This could let you know if someone is posting photos in an attempt to smear or harass you. Click here to learn more about that.