Vice President Kamala Harris has launched a White House task force with the mission to fight online harassment and abuse following a spate of mass shootings that are connected to online hate.
Harris announced the task force Thursday during a roundtable with officials, advocates and survivors, stating, “no one should have to endure abuse just because they are attempting to participate in society.”
“The Internet is an essential part of life in the 21st century,” she said. “And for far too many people … the Internet is a place of fear.”
The task force was established through a memorandum signed by President Joe Biden, fulfilling a campaign promise he made to combat online hate.
A senior administration official speaking to reporters Wednesday night said the mission of the task force is to address this growing problem, “which disproportionately targets women, girls and LGBTQI+ people.”
“The president made this commitment because in the United States, one in three women under the age of 35 report being sexually harassed online, and over half of LGBTQI+ individuals report being the target of severe online abuse,” the official said.
The memorandum states online harassment and abuse includes non-consensual distribution of intimate pictures, cyberstalking, sextortion, gendered disinformation and the recruitment and exploitation of sex trafficking victims as well as rape and death threats, among others.
The task force will focus on prevention, services and support for survivors, research on the scope and impact of the problem, accountability and the connection between online hate and extremist violence.
Within 180 days, the task force will submit Biden with a blueprint outlining recommendations for the federal and state governments as well as for technology platforms, schools and other public and private entities.
During her remarks, Harris said the United States continues to see acts of mass violence that follow online expressions of hate and abuse, highlighting the connections seen in recent mass shootings that have left scores of Americans dead.
She said the shooter who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket on May 14 was a White supremacist who was radicalized online and that the shooter who killed 19 students and two teachers at a Texas elementary school 10 days later had threatened to kidnap, rape and kill teenage girls on Instagram.
Harris added that one of the girls who said she had been harassed online by 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, the accused gunman of the Uvalde school shooting, stated that is “just how online is.”
“Think about that,” Harris said. “Hate has become so common on the Internet that, as a society, it’s kind of becoming normalized, and for users, some might say unavoidable.”
A fact sheet from the White House underscored the connection between online hate and real-world violence, stating “the Internet can fuel hate, misogyny and abuse with spillover effects that threaten our communities and safety online.”
Sloane Stephens, the U.S. open tennis champion, a survivor of online hate and an advocate, spoke before Harris and described how she is constantly confronted with hate online, including credible threats.
“It is so triggering to constantly advocate for myself and relive the trauma of these messages while knowing I’m getting more messages because I’m speaking out,” she said. “No matter the emojis I block or the filters I put in place I’ve learned that as someone is determined to be abusive and threatening they will get very creative.”
She said she “loves” social media, which she uses to communicate with friends, family and her community, but “in that same inbox there are people threatening to harm me.”
The announcement came months after the Violence Against Women Act was reauthorized and updated to permit victims of cyber exploitation to sue their abusers in federal civil court.
Harris on Thursday called this progress but said there is more work to do.
“This affects all of us if it affects any of us,” Harris said. “And we therefore, all of us, have a responsibility to stand together to support those who have gone through this but to also recognize they shouldn’t have to be alone fighting on this issue.”
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Could we get someone that understands what her tongue is trying to tell us?
Her cause has nothing to do with the shootings, it all has to do with the hate this country has for her and Biden, Pelosi, Shumer, AOC and the rest of her cohorts. She wants to shut us all up and that isn’t going to happen!!! We have free speech and we are going to use it. If we want to save this country, we need to get all of them out of our White House and Washington!!
So Kamala want’s to start her own Agency? Don’t we already have an Agency who does this ? Sounds like more Gov, outreach. And what’s the price tag for all this?
>> Don’t we already have an Agency who does this ? << No, we don't. We do have an agency that is supposed to do this, but doesn’t. Now, we’ll have two.
Sounds more like a task force being set up to harass those who disagree with the Democrat Party line which has taken on the guise of this administration’s stance government information is truth!
And of course only us conservatives will be hit for harassment..
Just the vile character of the treasonous, hateful Democrat Party.
Hillary Clinton said “You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it.”
“Joe Biden went on to assure the pro-LGBT crowd that even though the Obama administration cannot enforce a thought police, people who stand for their religious convictions are in the process of being wiped out — as the Obama White House’s homosexual agenda continues to proliferate across the nation. Carson and others who ascribe to the biblical view of homosexuality should be eradicated from the planet in the name of “equality” and “tolerance.” ”
The treachery of the treasonous, socialist Democrat Party know no bounds.
Just what I was thinking!
Lord knows that’s the most important thing facing the country right now….
Is that for all American citizens suffering under Hoe Biden?
sorry but a womans place is in the home!!!
Yea, one with padded rooms!
We will see how the gubment uses this new task force to abuse law biding citizens. If we say or do anything that is contrary to gubment mandate (like the vaccine) we may be monitored and targeted (a visit from the FBI maybe). So if Slo Joe says the sky is green we all better just say “Yes Sir, whatever you say Sir. Cause you be the man.”
You mean like I’m called racist for saying illegals are not citizens. Msn censored that statement and liberals called me names on line.
OR you are ‘racist’ for saying DEFEND our border.
And in the meantime, illegals are flooding into the country by the droves! More votes for the Dem’s you know! Shameful!
JUST the past 3 years alone, we’ve had probabily 3+ mil illegals sneak in.. THAT ALONE IS equal to the total population of MANY US Cities..
The dimmest bulb in DC needs something to do since she abandoned her “border czar” role.
That “Border Czar” thing is so last year! She’s had a few different czardoms since then an has proven equally qualified to handle every single one.
Now that we know what your priority in life is, would you please take care of the small (per your administration) problems we have like illegal invaders, high gas prices, lack of baby food, inflation, lack of food in general, money for our senior citizens/veterans/homeless since it is all being given to illegal invaders and for protection of a foreign border but not ours. May you get all you deserve asap.
There is no lack of infant formula; just ask the illegal invaders, they have plenty, down on the Mexican border.
How about real victims of sexual assault like Tara Reade? Think Harris is going to give a flying f*** about her. Rest assured the only people who will be targeted by this sham of a task force is conservatives.
What we are talking about here is online abuse. Abuse that happens……online. And, abuse…..happens online every….single…day. And we are taking on the task of talking about it. And so….we are…talking about it and “IT” is online abuse.
That is the essence of Online Abuse: abuse that occurs online. And we must talk about it…..as we are talking about it now….Online abuse, which happens online. and that is what we are talking about and will continue to talk about as we talk about “IT” together….And “IT” is online abuse. HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAA!
See, we’re talking now. Yes, we are. We are talking now and what we are talking about is “IT”. And “IT” is online abuse.
Thank you!
What could go wrong? How high can you count?
The best Agency that Kamala should be familiar with should be an Unemployment Agency.
>> See, we’re talking now. Yes, we are. We are talking now and what we are talking about is “IT”. And “IT” is online abuse. <<
And we are talking about IT and that's good, because "IT" needs to be talked about, because IT is it, so we are talking about …