A Safe Space: social app Coto provides safe space for women on internet- The New Indian Express

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Scrolling by social media lately, one can’t miss situations of hate, from homophobia to casteism, threats to slander, it is available in all types. However ladies face an awesome share of that hate. In an try to curb this downside and to present a secure house for girls on the web, Aparna Acharekar co-founded the women-only social app Coto (quick for come collectively).

“The thought got here from ladies dealing with harassment. We seen that the extra a girl expressed her ideas on-line, the extra hate she acquired. This was very true for girls influencers and celebrities. Not simply right here in India. We’ve knowledge that exhibits this sample the world over. We wished to create an area the place ladies would be capable of ask questions and specific themselves with out inhibitions,” shares Acharekar, who has over twenty years of expertise in content material creation. 

The web offers folks with the posh of anonymity. However some reap the benefits of this luxurious to masquerade themselves in some ways. So, how does coto guarantee nobody abuses the app? “We’ve numerous methods of verifying customers. We use dependable and efficient social recognition techniques to make sure somebody isn’t falsifying their identification. We additionally used two-factor authentication and if somebody needs to, they’ll choose to enter their Aadhaar particulars (different authorities ID knowledge for folks in different international locations). We’ve taken ample steps to make sure that solely ladies and transwomen get entry to our app,” she explains. 

coto has been stay since January 2023 and surprisingly the app hasn’t recorded any occasion of hate or abuse, largely attributable to its content material moderation practices. “First, there may be an AI-level moderation, which picks derogatory works or inappropriate phrases. Inappropriate phrases or context, in our case, are very totally different than what you discover on different social media. On a women-only app, when any individual makes use of the phrase breast or vagina, these phrases will not be flagged off as inappropriate. Secondly, communities reasonable their content material and their members. So neighborhood members can report back to, and escalate to admins of each neighborhood, just about like on a WhatsApp group. So if there may be something that’s not contextual to the neighborhood or could also be dangerous to the neighborhood, the creators themselves reasonable it. The platform doesn’t except their criticism has escalated,” she says. 

coto comes with an identification – to create an area for girls on-line. So, what are their plans to make sure the identification stays intact and doesn’t ultimately lose itself, one thing that has plagued different social media apps over time? “We imagine social media must be decentralized. Ladies who come to Coto and arrange their communities are given Coto tokens/positive factors. It primarily signifies that a big a part of the platform will likely be owned by the neighborhood creators and members.” Relating to plans of increasing, Acharekar elaborates, “Presently our largest consumer base is in India and Egypt. However the software is accessible globally. We’re quickly planning on launching in Indonesia.”

The co-founder of a social media app, Aparna Acharekar speaks about preserving freedom of expression for girls, stopping on-line hate and sustaining the app’s women-only identification to make sure it doesn’t share the destiny that befell Twitter

<br /> Scrolling by social media lately, one can’t miss situations of hate, from homophobia to casteism, threats to slander, it is available in all types. However ladies face an awesome share of that hate. In an try to curb this downside and to present a secure house for girls on the web, Aparna Acharekar co-founded the women-only social app Coto (quick for come collectively).</p> <p>“The thought got here from ladies dealing with harassment. We seen that the extra a girl expressed her ideas on-line, the extra hate she acquired. This was very true for girls influencers and celebrities. Not simply right here in India. We’ve knowledge that exhibits this sample the world over. We wished to create an area the place ladies would be capable of ask questions and specific themselves with out inhibitions,” shares Acharekar, who has over twenty years of expertise in content material creation. </p> <p>The web offers folks with the posh of anonymity. However some reap the benefits of this luxurious to masquerade themselves in some ways. So, how does coto guarantee nobody abuses the app? “We’ve numerous methods of verifying customers. We use dependable and efficient social recognition techniques to make sure somebody isn’t falsifying their identification. We additionally used two-factor authentication and if somebody needs to, they’ll choose to enter their Aadhaar particulars (different authorities ID knowledge for folks in different international locations). We’ve taken ample steps to make sure that solely ladies and transwomen get entry to our app,” she explains. googletag.cmd.push(operate() {googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });</p> <p>coto has been stay since January 2023 and surprisingly the app hasn’t recorded any occasion of hate or abuse, largely attributable to its content material moderation practices. “First, there may be an AI-level moderation, which picks derogatory works or inappropriate phrases. Inappropriate phrases or context, in our case, are very totally different than what you discover on different social media. On a women-only app, when any individual makes use of the phrase breast or vagina, these phrases will not be flagged off as inappropriate. Secondly, communities reasonable their content material and their members. So neighborhood members can report back to, and escalate to admins of each neighborhood, just about like on a WhatsApp group. So if there may be something that’s not contextual to the neighborhood or could also be dangerous to the neighborhood, the creators themselves reasonable it. The platform doesn’t except their criticism has escalated,” she says. </p> <p>coto comes with an identification – to create an area for girls on-line. So, what are their plans to make sure the identification stays intact and doesn’t ultimately lose itself, one thing that has plagued different social media apps over time? “We imagine social media must be decentralized. Ladies who come to Coto and arrange their communities are given Coto tokens/positive factors. It primarily signifies that a big a part of the platform will likely be owned by the neighborhood creators and members.” Relating to plans of increasing, Acharekar elaborates, “Presently our largest consumer base is in India and Egypt. However the software is accessible globally. We’re quickly planning on launching in Indonesia.”</p> <p>The co-founder of a social media app, Aparna Acharekar speaks about preserving freedom of expression for girls, stopping on-line hate and sustaining the app’s women-only identification to make sure it doesn’t share the destiny that befell Twitter<br />