[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 119 (Wednesday, June 22, 2022)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 37431-37434]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-13496]
[[Page 37429]]
Vol. 87
Wednesday,
No. 119
June 22, 2022
Part III
The President
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Memorandum of June 16, 2022--Establishment of the White House Task
Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 87 , No. 119 / Wednesday, June 22, 2022 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 37431]]
Memorandum of June 16, 2022
Establishment of the White House Task Force to
Address Online Harassment and Abuse
Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and
Agencies
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, and in order to improve efforts to prevent and
address online harassment and abuse, it is hereby
ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. Technology platforms and social
media can be vital tools for expression, civic
participation, and building a sense of community. But
the scale, reach, and amplification effects of
technology platforms have also exacerbated gender-based
violence, particularly through online harassment and
abuse. Online harassment and abuse include a broad
array of harmful and sometimes illegal behaviors that
are perpetrated through the use of technology. Women,
adolescent girls, and LGBTQI+ individuals, who may be
additionally targeted because of their race, ethnicity,
religion, and other factors, can experience more severe
harms from online harassment and abuse. Online
harassment and abuse take many forms, including the
non-consensual distribution of intimate digital images;
cyberstalking; sextortion; doxing; malicious deep
fakes; gendered disinformation; rape and death threats;
the online recruitment and exploitation of victims of
sex trafficking; and various forms of technology-
facilitated intimate partner abuse. In the United
States, 1 in 3 women under the age of 35 reports having
been sexually harassed online, and over half of LGBTQI+
individuals report having been the target of severe
online abuse, including sustained harassment, physical
threats, and stalking in addition to sexual harassment.
Globally, half of girls report that they are more
likely to be harassed through social media than on the
street.
In the United States and around the world, women and
LGBTQI+ political leaders, public figures, activists,
and journalists are especially targeted by sexualized
forms of online harassment and abuse, undermining their
ability to exercise their human rights and participate
in democracy, governance, and civic life. Online abuse
and harassment, which aim to preclude women from
political decision-making about their own lives and
communities, undermine the functioning of democracy.
Growing evidence also demonstrates that online
radicalization can be linked to gender-based violence,
which, along with other forms of abuse and harassment,
spans the digital and physical realms. Online
harassment and abuse can result in a range of dire
consequences for victims, from psychological distress
and self-censorship to economic losses, disruptions to
education, increased self-harm, suicide, homicide, and
other forms of physical and sexual violence. Further,
digital technologies are often used in concert with
other forms of abuse and harassment, underscoring the
urgency of addressing the interplay of in-person and
online harms. More research is needed to fully
understand the nature, magnitude, and costs of these
harms and ways to address them in the United States and
globally.
Therefore, I am directing the Director of the White
House Gender Policy Council and the Assistant to the
President for National Security Affairs to lead an
interagency effort to address online harassment and
abuse, specifically focused on technology-facilitated
gender-based violence, and to develop
[[Page 37432]]
concrete recommendations to improve prevention,
response, and protection efforts through programs and
policies in the United States and globally.
Sec. 2. Establishment. There is established within the
Executive Office of the President the White House Task
Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse (Task
Force).
Sec. 3. Membership. (a) The Director of the White House
Gender Policy Council and the Assistant to the
President for National Security Affairs, or their
designees, shall serve as Co-Chairs of the Task Force.
(b) In addition to the Co-Chairs, the Task Force
shall consist of the following members:
(i) the Secretary of State;
(ii) the Secretary of Defense;
(iii) the Attorney General;
(iv) the Secretary of Commerce;
(v) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;
(vi) the Secretary of Education;
(vii) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs;
(viii) the Secretary of Homeland Security;
(ix) the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy;
(x) the Assistant to the President and Director of the Domestic Policy
Council;
(xi) the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director of the
National Economic Council;
(xii) the Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development;
(xiii) the Counsel to the President;
(xiv) the Counsel to the Vice President; and
(xv) the heads of such other executive departments, agencies, and offices
as the Co-Chairs may, from time to time, designate.
(c) A member of the Task Force may designate, to
perform the Task Force functions of the member, senior
officials within the member's executive department,
agency, or office who are full-time officers or
employees of the Federal Government.
Sec. 4. Mission and Function. (a) The Task Force shall
work across executive departments, agencies, and
offices to assess and address online harassment and
abuse that constitute technology-facilitated gender-
based violence, including by:
(i) improving coordination among executive departments, agencies, and
offices to maximize the Federal Government's effectiveness in preventing
and addressing technology-facilitated gender-based violence in the United
States and globally, including by developing policy solutions to enhance
accountability for those who perpetrate online harms;
(ii) enhancing and expanding data collection and research across the
Federal Government to measure the costs, prevalence, exposure to, and
impact of technology-facilitated gender-based violence, including by
studying the mental health effects of abuse on social media, particularly
affecting adolescents;
(iii) increasing access to survivor-centered services, information, and
support for victims, and increasing training and technical assistance for
Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments as well as for
global organizations and entities in the fields of criminal justice, health
and mental health services, education, and victim services;
(iv) developing programs and policies to address online harassment, abuse,
and disinformation campaigns targeting women and LGBTQI+ individuals
[[Page 37433]]
who are public and political figures, government and civic leaders,
activists, and journalists in the United States and globally;
(v) examining existing Federal laws, regulations, and policies to evaluate
the adequacy of the current legal framework to address technology-
facilitated gender-based violence; and
(vi) identifying additional opportunities to improve efforts to prevent and
address technology-facilitated gender-based violence in United States
foreign policy and foreign assistance, including through the Global
Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse.
(b) Consistent with the objectives of this
memorandum and applicable law, the Task Force may
consult with and gather relevant information from
external stakeholders, including Federal, State, local,
Tribal, and territorial government officials, as well
as victim advocates, survivors, law enforcement
personnel, researchers and academics, civil and human
rights groups, philanthropic leaders, technology
experts, legal and international policy experts,
industry stakeholders, and other entities and persons
the Task Force identifies that will assist the Task
Force in accomplishing the objectives of this
memorandum.
Sec. 5. Reporting on the Work and Recommendations of
the Task Force. (a) Within 180 days of the date of this
memorandum, the Co-Chairs of the Task Force shall
submit to the President a blueprint (Initial Blueprint)
outlining a whole-of-government approach to preventing
and addressing technology-facilitated gender-based
violence, including concrete actions that executive
departments, agencies, and offices have committed to
take to implement the Task Force's recommendations. The
Initial Blueprint shall include a synopsis of key
lessons from stakeholder consultations and preliminary
recommendations for advancing strategies to improve
efforts to prevent and address technology-facilitated
gender-based violence. Following submission of the
Initial Blueprint to the President, the Co-Chairs of
the Task Force shall make an executive summary of the
Initial Blueprint publicly available.
(b) Within 1 year of the date that the Initial
Blueprint is submitted to the President, the Co-Chairs
of the Task Force shall submit to the President and
make publicly available an update and report (1-Year
Report) with additional recommendations and actions
that executive departments, agencies, and offices can
take to advance how Federal, State, local, Tribal, and
territorial governments; service providers;
international organizations; technology platforms;
schools; and other public and private entities can
improve efforts to prevent and address technology-
facilitated gender-based violence.
(c) Prior to issuing its Initial Blueprint and 1-
Year Report, the Co-Chairs of the Task Force shall
consolidate any input received and submit periodic
recommendations to the President on policies,
regulatory actions, and legislation on technology
sector accountability to address systemic harms to
people affected by online harassment and abuse.
(d) Following the submission of the 1-Year Report
to the President, the Co-Chairs of the Task Force
shall, on an annual basis, submit a follow-up report to
the President on implementation of this memorandum.
Sec. 6. Definition. For the purposes of this
memorandum, the term ``technology-facilitated gender-
based violence'' shall refer to any form of gender-
based violence, including harassment and abuse, which
takes place through, or is aided by, the use of digital
technologies and devices.
Sec. 7. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this
memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise
affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This memorandum shall not apply to independent
regulatory agencies as described in section 3502(5) of
title 44, United States Code. Independent
[[Page 37434]]
regulatory agencies are nevertheless strongly
encouraged to participate in the work of the Task
Force.
(c) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent
with applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(d) This memorandum is not intended to, and does
not, create any right or benefit, substantive or
procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any
party against the United States, its departments,
agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or
agents, or any other person.
(e) The Attorney General is authorized and directed
to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
Washington, June 16, 2022
[FR Doc. 2022-13496
Filed 6-21-22; 11:15 am]
Billing code 4410-19-P