Staying in control of your digital footprint
Block and report
What you will be able to do In 6 minutes, you'll know when to block, when to report, and where a report goes.
Two words come up as soon as a situation goes wrong online, and they're often confused. Blocking is a decision that only concerns you: the person can no longer reach you, write to you, or call you. It's immediate, it needs nobody's permission, and nothing warns the blocked person. Reporting is different: you alert the service that hosts the content, or a public authority, so it acts on the content or the account. The first move protects you. The second can protect other people. Often, both go together. We're going to look at three situations, on screens we designed. Nothing here is real: nobody is blocked, no report is sent.
Simulated screen
I practice
This screen was drawn by us. Nothing is sent, nothing is installed, and no real brand is shown.
The situationA number you don't know has written to you for the seventh time since this morning.
The interactive exercise needs JavaScript. The written step by step, just below, says exactly the same thing.
The written step by step
The same steps, in words, to read or print. This sheet works even without the exercise.
The difference between the two words
Your turn Touch the move that depends only on you, and that stops a person from reaching you.
Blocking is the personal decision: the person can no longer reach you. Reporting means asking a service or an authority to act on the content.
A number that won't stop
Your turn These messages have been repeating since this morning. Touch the move that keeps you safe right away.
"Block this number" cuts off contact right away: no more calls, no more messages, and nothing warns the blocked person.
Going further than your own phone
Your turn Blocking protects you. Touch the move that, in addition, acts beyond your phone.
We report the unwanted messages and calls to the national service set up for that, which forwards them every day to phone carriers.
A hurtful comment under your photo
Your turn The comment stays visible to all your contacts. Touch the move that can get it removed from the page.
"Report this comment to the network" asks the service to review it and remove it. It's the only move that acts on what another person wrote.
Content that goes beyond your case
Your turn This post doesn't concern you personally, but it's serious. Touch a reporting option that fits.
Two options fit: reporting to the service hosting the post, and reporting to the public authority set up for illegal content.
Keeping a trace, and talking about it
Your turn Touch the move that keeps a trace of what happened, for later.
We take a screenshot showing the date, time and sender, before anything else: the content can disappear, the screenshot stays.
The sheet to keep
- Blocking is your decision: the person can no longer reach you, nothing warns them, and it applies right away for you.
- Reporting is different: you ask the service hosting the content, or a public authority, to act on the content or the account.
- Blocking doesn't remove anything from the internet. Reporting doesn't cut off contact. The two moves are often done together.
- Before anything else: a screenshot showing the date, time and sender. It stays valid even if the content disappears.
- Unwanted messages and calls (in France): report them to 33700, by forwarding the message, free of charge. Reports go out every day to phone carriers.
- Illegal content (threats, incitement to hatred, endangerment): in France, the national platform sits at internet-signalement.gouv.fr, run by police officers and gendarmes. A report is not the same as filing a complaint.
- Cyberbullying and digital violence: in France, the 3018 helpline is free, anonymous and confidential, 7 days a week from 9 am to 11 pm. For all cybersecurity concerns, cybermalveillance.gouv.fr points you to the right help.
- Asking for help is an instinct. Telling someone you trust relieves the pressure right away.
The reflexes in this skill
I look at WHO is speaking
A displayed name is just text, so it can be copied. What matters is the exact address of the sender, or their phone number. A delivery announced from an unknown mobile number is not a delivery.
I go through the official door
The address typed in by hand, the app installed from the official store, the phone number printed on the back of your card. Never the link someone hands you, even when it looks right.
I make a copy of what matters
Photos, documents, contacts: anything that exists in only one place can disappear along with the device. A copy somewhere else turns a breakdown into a minor inconvenience.
No one serious ever rushes me
No threats, no countdown, no secret to keep. And asking for help is a reflex, not a failure: saying it out loud to someone makes most scams fall apart.
Two questions to check
Nothing is graded, and nothing is saved anywhere except in your own browser.
What's the difference between blocking a person and reporting their message?
See the answer
Blocking cuts off contact for you; reporting asks a service or an authority to act on the content
Blocking is your decision, immediate and needing no permission, but it removes nothing from the internet. Reporting doesn't cut off contact, but asks someone able to act to do so. The two moves complement each other.
You're receiving repeated unwanted messages. Which service do you report them to?
See the answer
To 33700, free of charge, by forwarding the message
In France, 33700 receives reports of unwanted messages and calls. Forwarding the message is free and not surcharged, and reports go out every day to phone carriers, who can act on the numbers involved.
I've done it
Check this box once you can do this skill on your own.
Your progress stays in your own browser.