Facebook’s “anti-bullying pledge” lands in Oz
Urgers users to unbridge their trolls
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Following a string of high-profile cases that have seen The Social NetworkTM roundly criticised by politicians, police and punters, Facebook has brought its “Be Bold, Stop Bullying” campaign to Australia.
Flicking the problem to users, the campaign asks members to pledge that they’ll “take a stand” if they see bullying, and to promise “I will not use my phone or computer to spread rumors or say hateful things, and I will not ignore it when others are cruel and intimidating.”
It claims that a similar campaign in America has been a success, with more than a million sign-ons.
Facebook has been side-swiped by notables such as Victorian Police Commissioner Ken Lay, who in early October said the company had no social responsibility when it resisted calls to take down pages the commissioner feared would undermine the trial of the man accused of murdering Irish expatriate Jill Meagher in Melbourne.
The campaign launch gives Facebook some desperately-needed favourable publicity in the Murdoch press in Australia, which had the company in the cross-hairs during its “Stop the Trolls” campaign.
Federal school education minister Peter Garrett briefly broke surface to help launch the campaign, which was also welcomed by the head of mental health advocacy group Headspace, Chris Tanti, telling the Herald Sun the campaign asks people not to be a bystander. ®
