First lady Melania Trump plans to convene tech giants including Amazon, Facebook, Google, Twitter and Snap March 20th at the White House to discuss ways to combat online harassment and promote internet safety, according to four people familiar with her efforts.
The meeting marks the first major policy push in the first lady’s long-ago announced campaign to combat cyberbullying.
A spokeswoman for Melania said in a statement that the first lady had “simply asked for a meeting to discuss one of the many things that impacts children.” The spokeswoman declined to provide additional details.
According to The Washington Post reports, Melania plans to ask policy executives from tech companies to detail how they’ve sought to address digital ills plaguing web users, such as the rise of online trolls and the spread of malicious content. This was according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss her efforts on the record. They further said they don’t expect the Melania to unveil any policy proposals to combat cyberbullying — a term her team has sought to avoid, instead opting to focus on the need for kindness online.
Microsoft and the Internet Association, a lobbying organization for Silicon Valley, as well as consumer groups, are also said to attend the meeting.
