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Prince Williams calling out social media companies for not doing enough to end cyberbullying
28/09/2021
20mins
Phani Kumar S
BUSINESS,WEB
One of the biggest side effects of the internet is cyberbullying. Quite surprisingly, it also happens to be one of the things that people on the internet tend to ignore the most. There have been quite a lot of cyberbullying cases that have led to consequences as bad as suicide.
Moreover, it has been estimated that a large number of teens who are depressed have their depression linked to social media and cyber-bullying. Indeed, cyberbullying is something that has to be curbed as soon as possible. However, it is unfortunate that many people do not even consider it to be a real issue.
The main reason why people end up feeling bad because of cyberbullying is the fact that the insults that trolls make are often public, and can be seen by everyone else. This is the prime factor that makes it worse for the victims.
Recently, Prince William called out the social media companies for not doing enough to end cyberbullying. This was laid out in the form of a very powerful speech that was centred around social media, fake news, and cyberbullying in general. This speech was delivered during Prince William’s appearance on BBC in London along with Kate Middleton.
Being a member of Cyberbullying Task Force, Prince William called of the social media companies in order to let them know that these platforms are more or less like a safe haven for trolls who use them for hateful speech and misinformation. Moreover, it was pointed out that social media companies are not doing enough to end such behaviour.
He added that technology allows a person to grow his/her hobbies and social media allows people to connect with each other. However, these tools are also very commonly used for organized violence, fake news, hate speech, and cyberbullying.
Although Prince Williams had made his speech on BBC in the United Kingdom, his speech is relevant all across the globe. Consequently, it is most relevant for American listeners primarily because most of the social media companies such as Twitter and Facebook have their headquarters situated in the United States of America. Moreover, these tech companies have been trying to struggle with false news and hate groups on the platforms especially after the election in 2016. However, their efforts have not been particularly successful.
Prince William added that it worries him that there is still a lot that the technology companies have to learn as of yet, especially the responsibilities that they have due to the significant amount of power. He also cleared the fact that his speech is inspired by hope and not from anger.
Apart from that, he also added that the technology companies care so much about their self-image, that they end up getting grounded in the positive power. As a result of this, they are not able to engage themselves in a constructive discussion regarding all the problems that they have fueled. He further added that these companies are primarily distracted by the bottom lines, profits, and the noise of the shareholders.
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