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By Faizel Patel

Senior Digital Journalist


Warning: You could be blocked if you don’t activate Facebook protect

Facebook Protect is primarily aimed for people who are likely to be targets of malicious hackers.


Meta owned Facebook will be reportedly blocking users from the social media platform unless they agree and accept its new security programme’s terms and conditions

According to Meta, Facebook Protect is primarily aimed for people who are likely to be targets of malicious hackers including human rights defenders, journalists, and government officials.

Two-factor authentication

Meta said Facebook Protect uses two-factor authentication to improve the security of Facebook accounts.

“These people are at the center of critical communities for public debate. They enable democratic elections, hold governments and organizations accountable, and defend human rights around the world. Unfortunately, this also means that they are highly targeted by bad actors.”

While Meta sent emails that looked like spam, many users ignored it and trashed the mail.

According to 9to5Mac, sent from ‘security@facebookmail.com users had until March 17 to sign up for Facebook Protect.

While many people were unable to access their profiles and having trouble logging back in, Nathaniel Gliecher, Head of Security Policy at Meta, provided feedback in a Tweet.

“We’re looking into isolated examples where people may need help enrolling in the program. Thank you for your patience and we really appreciate people taking steps to secure their accounts.”

Meta said it first tested Facebook Protect in 2018 and expanded it ahead of the 2020 US election.

“We began our global expansion in September. Since then, more than 1.5 million accounts have enabled Facebook Protect, and of those, nearly 950K accounts newly enrolled in two-factor authentication. We are on track to expand the program to more than 50 countries by the end of the year (2021), including the United States, India, and Portugal.”

Facebook said two-factor authentication, particularly by using third-party authentication apps — significantly improves the security of your online accounts.

“Right now, anyone can enrol in two-factor authentication and everyone should.”

Facebook said no action is required unless users are prompted to enroll.

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Meta (Facebook)