Whoa: White House Sneaks In Secret Online Task Force
Biden couldn't sneak in his 'disinformation board' but that didn't stop the White House from dropping a new online task force. The task force, as it was explained on the White House's site, claims to focus mainly on 'gender-related harassment online' but with vague language like this, you would do well to pay attention:
"Technology platforms and social media can be vital tools for expression, civic participation, and building a sense of community. But the scale, reach, and amplification effects of technology platforms have also exacerbated gender-based violence, particularly through online harassment and abuse. Online harassment and abuse include a broad array of harmful and sometimes illegal behaviors that are perpetrated through the use of technology. Women, adolescent girls, and LGBTQI+ individuals, who may be additionally targeted because of their race, ethnicity, religion, and other factors, can experience more severe harms from online harassment and abuse. Online harassment and abuse take many forms, including the non-consensual distribution of intimate digital images; cyberstalking; sextortion; doxing; malicious deep fakes; gendered disinformation; rape and death threats; the online recruitment and exploitation of victims of sex trafficking; and various forms of technology-facilitated intimate partner abuse. "
Kamala Harris tried to explain the new board away during a presser:
"Nearly one in four Asian Americans report being called an offensive name, usually motivated by racism — being called an offensive name online. And Black people who have been harassed online in our country are three times more likely to be targeted, again, because of their race."
Protecting victims of sex trafficking is something we can all support but judge by the way this bill is written, that objective is far down the scale of importance. The bill focuses on 'name calling' and bullying which is just too vague for me.
Take a look: Memorandum on the Establishment of the WhiteHouse Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse. Let me know what you think in the comments below.