Staying safe on Facebook

People use Facebook and New Zealand social media to share their stories, see the world through the eyes of others and connect with friends and family. Here’s some tips to help everyone ensure Facebook safety when on Facebook and other social media accounts in NZ.

Worried about a post on Facebook

If you see something on Facebook in New Zealand that doesn’t fit with Community Standards, you can report it. Facebook will promptly review your report and let you know their actions through your Support Inbox.

To report a post, click in the top right of the post you want to report and choose the option that best describes the issue and follow the on-screen instructions.

Worried about a person

If someone posts something on Facebook that makes you concerned about their wellbeing, you can reach out to them directly — and you can also report the post to Facebook. Facebook has teams working around the world, 24/7, who review reports.

They prioritise the most serious reports like self-injury and send help and resources to those in distress. For more information visit facebook.com/safety/wellbeing.

Privacy settings on Facebook

Privacy by default is a key feature of any new Facebook user account set ups.

Use the Privacy Checkup to manage your privacy settings so you know who’s seeing what you share. Privacy Checkup will help you review and adjust who sees your posts, who can see personal information on your profile, and which settings you’ve enabled for apps you’ve
logged into with Facebook. More details here fb.me/PrivacyCheckup.

Make sure your account is as secure as it can be. Use Security Check Up to review and add more security to your account fb.me/securitycheckup.

Quick Guide

When you post on Facebook, you can choose your audience.

Public: Anyone including people off of Facebook
Friends (+ friends of anyone tagged): Your Facebook friends. If someone is tagged in the post, then the tagged person and their friends can see it. To change this, click the audience selector next to the post, select Custom, and uncheck Friends of those tagged
Only Me: Only visible only to you. If you tag someone, they’ll be able to see it.
Custom: Share something with specific people, or hide it from specific people.

Online safety advice for Facebook users

Only Friend people you know
Create a good password and use it only for Facebook – don’t share your password and change it regularly
Share your personal information only with people and companies that need it
Check you Facebook privacy settings regularly to make sure you know what you are sharing with who
Log out of Facebook after using someone else’s computer
Use secure browsing whenever possible
Only download apps from sites you trust
Keep your anti-virus software updated
Beware of “goofy” posts from anyone – even Friends. If it looks like something your friend wouldn’t post, don’t click on it
Scammers might hack your Friends’ accounts and send links from their accounts so beware of enticing links coming from your Friends