Vice President Kamala Harris has been appointed to lead a task team to combat online abuse and harassment, according to President Joe Biden.
Biden will introduce the White House Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse on Thursday, and Harris will formally launch it in the afternoon with a roundtable.
The task group was formed, according to the administration, to “address online harms that disproportionately affect women, girls, people of color, and LGBTQI+ individuals.”
It’s the latest assignment for Harris, who already has a lot on her plate for the Biden administration, including safeguarding voting rights and looking into the core causes of migration.
After Politico revealed a draft Supreme Court ruling that, if enforced, would virtually abolish Roe v. Wade – the landmark that affirmed a woman’s right to an abortion – Harris has taken the lead for the administration in protecting reproductive rights and a woman’s right to an abortion.
Melania Trump declared combating online harassment and bullying one of the three pillars of her Be Best program, but the issue has taken on new importance in the wake of the recent shooting tragedies in Texas and New York, which were preceded by racist remarks on social media.
‘The sad incidents in Buffalo and Uvalde have highlighted a truth that many Americans are all too aware of: the internet can foster hatred, sexism, and abuse, with spillover effects that endanger our communities and safety offline,’ according to a White House fact page.
‘Recent mass shootings have also brought attention to the links between online abuse, bigotry, sexism, and extremist behavior.’ The Uvalde gunman, for example, had a history of threatening females online, but when reported, these violent, sexualized damages and threats were disregarded and ignored,’ according to the administration.
Attorney General Merrick Garland and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, as well as Sloane Stephens, a black American tennis star who has endured racist internet harassment, will join Harris’ meeting on Thursday.
The task force will be co-chaired by the Gender Policy Council and the National Security Council. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas are among the other members.
On a conference call before of the start, administration officials said the task force’s goal is to make recommendations for the federal government’s next measures in combating the problem over the next 180 days.
According to the White House, the report’s recommendations will include increasing support for survivors of online harassment and abuse, expanding research to better understand the problem’s impact and scope, improving prevention, including youth-focused prevention, and strengthening accountability for offenders and platforms.
According to the administration, one in every three women under the age of 35 in the United States has been sexually harassed online, and more than half of LGBTQI+ people have been the subject of serious online harassment.
Other responsibilities for the Biden administration included marketing the child tax credit, working on broadband internet concerns, assisting in the vaccination of Americans, chairing the National Space Council, and leading a pro-union task group.
With a heated address to Emily’s List, a pro-abortion group, immediately after the draft Supreme Court judgment emerged, the vice president also injected herself into the battle over abortion rights.
‘They have no right to tell a woman what she can and can’t do with her own body,’ she says. Last month, Ms. Harris stated. ‘How dare they try to prevent her from making her own decisions? They have no authority to deny women their rights and liberties.’