The massive reach of the internet is changing how brands and customers communicate with each other and even how companies drive revenue, and how they are prioritizing protecting brand reputation. Unfortunately, the internet does not discriminate in the speed, reach, access, and efficiency it provides to all users. Increasing online traffic and the proliferation of social media, which bolster business growth and revenue potential, also make the online space attractive to instigators, such as trolls, harassers, and sophisticated bad actors.

The high cost of abuse

Nowadays, content, including malicious ones, moves freely and abundantly online. Further, problematic behavior, harmful/illegal encounters, and security risks continuously threaten the user experience. And with children interacting with their parents — and the wider world — at the click of a button on a digital device, disturbing images, inappropriate sexual content, and distorted portrayals of adult life, pose a direct threat to them. It is crucial, therefore, for parents to have a high degree of awareness of numerous websites and social media platforms, including their risks.

Note that the risks are not confined to a few websites. Harmful content can easily appear in online chat forums and brands’ digital channels, impacting consumer trust, market reputation, and the bottom line. According to a 2020 survey conducted by Crisp Thinking, 60% of respondents believe that inappropriate or harmful comments on brand-owned social media pages reflect the values and leadership of that brand/company. Hence, content moderation means protecting brand reputation. 

A path to improvement

While brands have a responsibility to deploy significant technological resources and human monitoring to squelch harmful content, especially as immersive virtual worlds are introduced within the metaverse, presenting new and exacerbated threats, parents are the first line of defense for young users. As such, parents should ease a child’s introduction to digital devices and the internet by sharing screen time with them and navigating to various websites. Limiting the child’s exposure to potentially harmful content requires parents to curb the total amount of time that children spend on digital devices daily. Regardless of a child’s age, shared digital experiences can help parents better understand their children’s viewing preferences while also allowing parents to teach children about common pitfalls of internet and app usage, including the risk of scams and frauds. As children mature, oversight should become cooperative. Instead of parents assuming full responsibility, young adults should be empowered to take responsibility.

For companies, the success of cleaning up digital spaces and protecting brand reputation and their brands — and children — from exposure to online threats means having a strong trust and safety ecosystem. This includes a robust machine learning/AI capacity for monitoring search engines and filtering out harmful content across websites and social media and a technical and human capacity coupled with a global vantage that allows the review of data streams across an array of social media outlets.

As a global leader in advanced experience management for customers and citizens worldwide, Teleperformance is an ideal partner in this endeavor. Leveraging advances in machine learning and AI, it is well-positioned to inform consumer brands of the type of content that has the potential to go viral. Affording brands a head start means enabling them to thwart the rapid dissemination of harmful content. Further, Teleperformance possesses the dedicated resources to ensure support for effective human monitoring.

Find out what online threats parents and brands worry about the most and why it is imperative for consumer-facing enterprises to partner with a trusted global business services provider with subject matter expertise. Download the full white paper from Ryan Strategic Advisory for a more in-depth look at both the risks and tips for mitigating them.

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