Intel CEO Brian Krzanich vows to take on online harassment, which he believes is very frightening in reality. On Thursday while speaking atCES, Krzanich announced a new alliance of tech leaders who will fight it together.
Intel forms tech alliance to tackle harassment
Krzanich, who has come up with a new Hack Harassment initiative for combating online harassment, said this problem is affecting people everywhere. Online harassment has become a major issue and a topic of heated debate in the gaming and tech industry. And to fight it, Intel has teamed up with Vox Media, Re/code, and Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation.
Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff said, “We are excited to be part of a process that will create more empathy online. We all have a vested interest in this.”
Re/Code cofounder Kara Swisher said that online harassment has real emotional repercussions, and the time has come to take strict action against it. Swisher, who is also the editor of Re/code, said she will take up the issue at the company’s annual conference.
“We’re not going to shut up,” she said. “We’re not going to stop until they stop hate speech. People believe in free speech. They do not believe in hate speech.”
Harassment and diversity
On Thursday, while speaking at a press conference about the anti-online harassment group, Krzanich said the issue is both personal and serious, and something has to be done to address it.
“If we are going to have a world that is more and more connected, you have to remember behind all those postings and comments, there is a person,” Krzanich said.
Intel’s CEO said that harassment can occur via forums, comments, gaming, chat and other forms of online communication. Krzanich cited data from the Pew Research Center that said almost 40% users have experienced personal harassment and 73% are witnesses to someone being harassed. One in four affirmed seeing someone receive physical threats online, while one in five affirmed witnessing someone being sexually harassed or stalked online.
Krzanich said talking about harassment is very important from the standpoint of diversity. More than half of Hispanic and African-American users have faced instances of online harassment, while a third of whites have been through similar experiences.
