In the aftermath of the tragic shooting that occurred one week ago, one of Joe Biden’s campaign commitments was to form a task force to tackle abuse that may be experienced online. Vice President Kamala Harris is going to fulfill this promise on Thursday.
The group will have a period of six months to come up with a plan that outlines how to deal with the issue, which should include improved aid for victims, higher responsibility for aggressors and platforms that host them and enhanced preventative efforts.
The National Security Council and the White House Gender Policy Council are expected to share the role of chairing the task group, as indicated by high-level administration sources on Wednesday evening.
After the massacres in Texas, which were preceded by the perpetrator allegedly spreading violent propaganda online, the task force was established as a response to the tragedy. In Texas, the gunman went on a killing rampage.
According to reports from The News God, the Washington Post, and other outlets, Salvador Ramos, the gunman who opened fire on a primary school in Uvalde, allegedly made threats to rape girls and shoot up schools on social media app Yubo before the incident. Ramos also allegedly threatened to shoot up schools.
Officials from the administration have stated that it is essential to better understand the connection between internet mysticism and radicalization to violence and to take action against it.
The White House reports that one in three women under the age of 35 and more than half of LGBT people in the United States have been the victims of online harassment and stalking at some point in their lives.
On Thursday, Harris will be joined by Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and tennis star Sloane Stephens for a conversation on the abuse that may occur on social media. This talk comes in the wake of Stephens’ defeat at the US Open.
