ISLAMABAD – According to Internet World Stats, there were 32 million usersof Facebook registered from Pakistan out of 44.6 million internet users inthe country at end of 2017. The country is ranked 25 throughout the worldwith considerable growth in the number of people using social networks.

These users are consuming social networks not only for infotainment andnetworking but also for commercial purposes and social causes as well,which can be seen through the significant number of groups and pagescreated by Pakistanis.

Facebook recently has introduced various features specifically for thePakistani market. These include facial recognition, registering yourself asa possible blood donation candidate, and now, a profile photo guard tool.

Among these features and tools, the latest one is a picture profile guardwhich is believed to be extremely helpful for subscribers of Facebook inPakistan, especially for girls and women. It is expected that the number offemale users will increase with this new tool and will also feel safe whensharing pictures over the social media platform.

Facebook’s Head of Policy, Middle East and Africa, Nashwa Hussien Alyexplained the reason behind the launch of a picture profile guard inPakistan.

Profile pictures are an important part of community building on Facebookbecause they help people find friends and create meaningful connections.But not everyone feels safe adding a profile picture. In Pakistan, we haveheard that people want more control over their profile pictures, and wehave been working over the past year to understand how we can help. Thislaunch is part of our ongoing commitment to keeping people safe online.

Women are underrepresented on the internet in Pakistan, and we are tryingto help make Facebook a safe place for them to be online, she added.Facebook cares about bringing more women online in Pakistan. It cares aboutkeeping women safe online, an official of Facebook told *Pakistan Today* inan email interview.

At Facebook, we carried out regular research, including our Future ofBusiness research in collaboration with The World Bank and OECD, tounderstand the entrepreneurial desires, barriers and challenges facingwomen in the region. We work with several safety experts and NGOs to trainwomen on how to stay safe online. We also have a female representative onour global Safety Advisory Board from the region.

We are always looking for ways to improve people experience on Facebook. Inour research with people and safety organisations in India, Egypt, Pakistanand Bangladesh, we have heard that some women choose not to share profilepictures that include their faces anywhere on the internet because they’reconcerned about what may happen to their photos. These tools will beavailable to both men and women as they continue to roll out more broadly,she said.

Aly further said the profile picture guard prevents misuse by disablingsome ways of saving, downloading and screen-shotting that are in ourcontrol on Facebook. Though we were able to disable screenshots on someversions of the Android app, we understand there are other ways people cangain access, such as camera-to-screen and desktop screenshots. The profilepicture design is intended to help deter people from using these additionalways to gain access.