Last November, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made a big show of telling everyone that they were really “energized” about issues of mental health, particularly children’s mental health. They wanted everyone to know that they were “keen” on working in greater depth with mental health issues. They did hit-and-run photo-ops at mental health events, staying for 20-30 minutes then leaving with an encouraging, “continue the discussion!” It was also in November that we first heard about William and Kate wanting to get more involved in the issue of cyberbullying. The Kensington Palace office announced that they would be looking to set up meetings with Facebook and Twitter executives to try to tackle the issue of cyberbullying. And then… nothing much happened for five months. Some vacations, hair appointments and shopping. But now William is reenergized and keen!
Cyberbullies beware: Prince William is out to get you. The 33-year-old Duke of Cambridge is set to convene an industry-led taskforce to support young people and their families affected by cyberbullying, Kensington Palace said in a statement obtained by E! News Thursday.
The group will “bring together industry partners and a group of advisers from the sector to develop an industry-wide response to the online bullying of young people, with a focus on 12-14 year olds,” the statement said.
“This is an issue that The Duke feels strongly about,” it continued. “He knows that social media and other technologies are creating significant positive opportunities for millions of young people. But as a parent, he knows that many people worry about how to protect their children from the new avenues for bullying that technology is creating. He hopes the taskforce can help the industry share the best practice that is emerging across the sector and put in place new standards so that the Internet remains something young people and their parents can embrace with confidence.”
The taskforce will be made up of “leading figures from technology companies and internet service providers” and will “take existing models of good practice for reporting abusive content on individual networks and develop a set of commitments for the industry to sign up to, to collectively tackle the issue” of cyberbullying, Kensington Palace said in its statement. “It will consider the development of a single resource of up to date practical support and information for young people affected by cyberbullying, with advice on how to get help,” the statement continued. “It will also work to help parents and adults to better understand cyberbullying, and give them the confidence to find appropriate help and resources to support children affected by the issue.”
As I said last November, if William is coming into this dialogue/conversation with the best intentions and a desire to affect change, then God bless and Godspeed. I will be the first to applaud him. Cyberbullying and online harassment are genuine issues and the consequences of inaction are, at times, life-and-death. But, as I also said last November, it feels like Will and Kate are glomming on to a larger conversation that has already been happening for years. Facebook and Twitter executives have already been working on issues around cyberbullying, cyber-stalking and online harassment. So when a company like Twitter announces some policy change, William will get to “take credit” for it.
And beyond that, I have real concerns about William’s level of empathy for genuine victims of cyberbullying and harassment. As we’ve seen in the past few months, William often sees himself as the biggest victim, the victim of a gilded cage, the most precious and sensitive person who must be handled with kid gloves or else he’ll threaten and bully everyone else until he gets his way.
Photos courtesy of PCN, WENN, Fame/Flynet.
This is a better fit for W&K than mental health. It’s not easier to deal with, but it’s much more straightforward and less prone to gaffes and pitfalls.
“….a set of commitments for the industry to sign up to…”
I think they’re going to go over a cliff on that one.
I disagree. You know W&K are going to discuss this issue in terms of how they were/are bullied online by people. When you’re discussing the issue of cyber bullying/harassment you need to be genuine, and W&K are never able to pull that off. They love to play the victim, not help empower real victims.
So Harry helped to organize the Invictus Games, but William just “convenes” this task force? Basically meaning his team his team just coordinated schedules. Hopefully he gets more involved than this.
Thanks for saying so succinctly what I was going to struggle with while trying to keep one ear on a (useless) conference call.
Haha! I’ve been there.
I just don’t get how we’re supposed to applaud this guy for simply organizing a meeting…??? If they did a low amount of work duties but were heavily involved (similar to Harry), I would cut them more slack. But, when he and Kate finally get out to work, it’s showing up at events, shaking hands, ribbon cutting, “convening” meetings, or other things that require minimal work. In fact, it’s so minimal, I believe they average about 45 min at events. It’s ridiculous.
Their staff convene meeting, but WK don’t apoear to attend them anymore even though the publicity keeps saying that they do.
They’ve really cut back on attendance of moost things and simply do drive by pap strolls. #keeptheideascoming!
He “convenes” a task force of people who were already working on this issue. So really he did nothing at all, but can somehow get credit for not doing anything.
That headline and photo together? I’m dead. Does anyone know how to fly an air ambulance around here?
IKR? It is just too perfect.
What a martyr! He is the Taylor swift of royals. I mean good on cracking down on bullying, but this is his personal issue and he’s butt hurt about the press being critical. UGH!
Exactly. Normal Bill, the justified criticism about your work ethic – or lack thereof – when you’re being supported by taxpayer’s dollars is NOT bullying. I find him repulsive, even with a lightsaber in his hands. He really is the worst….. he reminds me of Marie Antoinette and it infuriates me.
That announcement is as grand and as vague as possible. Jason deserve a raise. Listen up, Jason. I’m looking for a new job. Call me. Your skills are beyond words. Literally.
So, William is pretty much Emo Kylo Ren?
Bingo!
ha! You win!
beware celeb*tches ladies ..
hahaha..
Why? Is Willie’s covert cyber swat team going to take down CB? Where will the trolls go if they can’t harass the CB readers anymore? The Daily Mail? #trollsloveCBtoo
maybe he’ll employ bunch of royal sugar to the gossip sites and give him reports if anyone call him doolittle. chopper etc 😉
its still a big mistery to me, how can anyone defend W&K.. because he is diana’s son? because she is a ‘commoner’ who married a prince ? I dont get it
LOL! Chopper! Willie should’ve learned by now that names don’t hurt! I don’t understand the excuses people make for them either. The excuses are never well-thought out or debatable. On a previous thread, one of the *excusers* said Katie might have a social disorder. Really? If so, why is she trying to become the new celebrity face of children’s mental health treatment and outreach in GB. Shouldn’t she be taking her own advice and get some help?
I’m really curious on how they think they are going to be able to do something about Cyber Bullying. What are they going to do – roam the internet and spank trolls?
They will go to schools and make speeches? And when they leave the students will all get on their devices and post about how useless they are, generating more cyber bullying. It’s job security.
He is no fairytale prince, alright. He looks royally constipated.
Remember when he was the golden boy? In his 21st-birthday photos, he was the HAWTness. My, how times have changed…
I had no idea of who he was until the day of his wedding. He isn’t as famous as he seems to think himself. Honestly, he looks my high school maths teacher…… ugh, he was creepy.
Its great that they are getting behind this but i have to question their reasons. They are often outed on twitter when they are saying one thing and doing another i.e. the holiday when they were spotting at a Scottish airport the day after she cancelled an engagement citing severe morning sickness. Same goes for when he’s supposed to be working at his pilots job, he’s often spotted on twitter elsewhere, same for her and her shopping/salon trips in London when their PR is telling us they are living the country live in Norfolk.
Ah, they are quite simply liars who lie. This entire initiative is a simply an effort for William to block any and all discussion/ criticism of himself and his lazy wife on social media. Just another cynical attempt to use a serious issue and twist it for his own benefit. He’s a disgusting human being as he could teach a class in bullying.
But what about Press Bullying? And Wife Bullying? And Brother Bullying?
this.
I think at this point better if Silly Billy just stays in his ivory tower – no one cares !
Will they use this new campaign as an excuse for her to lie about being bullied again? After her claims were disproven, they dropped talking about bullying for awhile. Rumors of a sweep a few years ago, an excuse to go after critical blogs and facebook pages. It was couched in terms of copyright (with the catchphrase of cyberbullying thrown in). Only the critical blogs were gone after not the fawning ones.
Some of the worst cyberbullying of individuals in the “royal fandom” is W&K fans attacking people who run critical blogs. I remember some W&K fans on tumblr celebrating when a person critical of W&K had a miscarriage. Select W&K fans CELEBRATED the woman’s loss, because they thought she and her baby deserved to die because she criticized Kate Middleton.
That is the level some of their “fans” sink to online, and it is not limited to the 12-to-14 age range. Not a peep out of anti-cyberbullying champions W&K when the bullying is done to silence the critics.
Time will tell.
That tumblr incident is just sickening. I had no idea some of their fans were that rabid. SMH; they’re as bad as the KStew fans.
So in other words another group of people will do the work and will will take the credit. Is this all he’s ever going to do- set up task forces where other people do the work and he’s just the face/head of it?
That’s his favorite thing to do, try to get credit for other people’s hard work. That’s what he consistently does. Social media companies were already working together and individually on the issue of cyber bullying/harassment
Something tells me that he chose this because he thinks that people calling him out for his BS makes him a poor victim of cyberbulling too.
I really don’t get some of this cyberbulling stuff. I used to work as a mental health counseler for young people and I was always amazed by how many distraught kids we had coming in because people were calling them names in Facebook and Twitter wars. The solution was always so simple too- stay off of social media or block the person who is bothering you.
m, you are so right! For the life of me, I can’t understand what compels people, young and old, to keep doing something so frivolous as engaging in social media if it’s making them miserable.
As the parent of a kid in the age range they are targeting, I’d say the advice to stay off social media is somewhat unrealistic. It’s rarely that simple–they just turn to texting, or the next so, or talking about the kid on social media without the kid there. it’s that tricky time when kids are trying to figure out who they are and where they belong without the brain development to prevent impulsive behavior.
It’s not uncommon for people who have been blocked to open up an account under a new name. A lot of social media sites refuse to do stuff about it saying it’s within their rights of free speech. I know Tumblr is really bad at this. I know a couple of people who reported people and were told there was nothing they could do.
Yet another attempt at re-energising himself. Prepare yourselves for a 45 minute meeting, a recorded message or open letter and taking the credit for everyone else’s efforts. Job done. Time for a long rest followed by more re-energising
I hope Twitter and Facebook tell these two to bugger off, then form their OWN task force to take on the challenge.
TWITTER is active against online harassment? Not from what I have seen.