Facebook Inspector [FBI]

Facebook Inspector [FBI] Before - Hiding Posts with "Trump"
Facebook Inspector [FBI] After - Hiding Posts with "Trump"
Facebook Inspector [FBI] Before - Hiding Posts with "Fruit" and "Yogurt"
Facebook Inspector [FBI] After - Hiding Posts with "Fruit" and "Yogurt"
Facebook Inspector [FBI] Logo

Facebook Inspector [FBI]

Team Name: National Security Agency [NSA]

Members: Kevin Chen, Rosanne Hu, Adelaide Oh, Nanxi Liu

Problem: Often times, sensitive content is difficult to flag on websites such as Facebook - especially as many user do not tag posts for content/trigger warnings themselves - and renders Facebook an uncomfortable space for certain users.

Mission: Our project was designed to create a Chrome extension that adds content and trigger warnings (CW & TW) on Facebook to help promote safe spaces and reduce online harassment, relieving the burden from the poster.

Target: Facebook users

Platform: Chrome extension

Implementation: FBI allows users to hide posts that may elicit a strong or harmful emotional response. Users can insert words or phrases representative of posts that they do not want to see on their timeline. Such words would be saved across all sessions and can be modified. Posts with flagged content will be hidden, displaying only the flagged keywords and the content creator, but can be opened up by clicking on them.

Impact: FBI can significantly reduce online harassment by hiding posts with certain keywords (i.e. curse words, controversial issues, etc.), thus minimizing conflict and creating a safer space. Hidden posts are labelled with the flagged trigger warnings and can be opened/closed when clicked upon. FBI can also extend beyond its intended use and flag for more benign issues (i.e. spoilers for TV shows, decluttering news feed for popular issues, etc.). FBI outperforms many content blocking extensions that already exist in the field due to its ability to function without reliance on tags, simple UI, and additional features.