Cindy Gallop Writes To Prince Harry On ‘Designing Safer, More Inclusive Social Media’

Cindy Gallop Writes To Prince Harry On ‘Designing Safer, More Inclusive Social Media’
B&T Magazine
By B&T Magazine
SHARE
THIS



Brand and business innovator Cindy Gallop has written an op-ed to the Duke of Sussex, explaining why the digital landscape remains unwell, pointing to a lack of diversity.

Responding to an op-ed by Prince Harry on the need to redesign social media around “compassion, trust, and well-being”, Cindy Gallop said that, while “absolutely right” to say social media is dividing society, he had missed the mark on who should redesign it, and how.

The Duke of Sussex was appealing for society to take a “critical eye to the last two decades, where advancements in technology and media have outgrown many of the antiquated guardrails that once ensured they were being designed and used appropriately”.

He was also calling for companies around the world with business and advertising models directly tied to digital platforms to consider how they can bring about reform to ensure the “betterment of all”.

Gallop, who recently called on LinkedIn to step-up on the issue of sexual harassment of women on the platform, said there was one fundamental reason the digital landscape is, as Prince Harry puts it, “unwell”.

“The young white male founders of the giant tech platforms that dominate our lives today are not the primary targets (online or offline) of harassment, abuse, racism, sexual assault, violence, rape, revenge porn,” she wrote in Fast Company.

“So they didn’t, and they don’t, proactively design for the prevention of any of those things. That is why we now have, in your words, ‘online platforms that have contributed to, stoked, and created the conditions for a crisis of hate, a crisis of health, and a crisis of truth.’

“Those of us who are at risk every single day—women, Black people, people of colour, LGBTQ, the disabled—design safe spaces, and safe experiences.

“When we get access to the same levels of funding and support that white men do, we deliver what you’re looking for. Little nudges and prompts at just the right point can have a disproportionately beneficial approach. We design to stop harassment and abuse before it ever happens.”

Gallop goes on to write in the US monthly business magazine that, despite the benefits, “we don’t often get funded to start them, build them, grow them, scale them”.

According to PitchBook Data, which delivers data and research on the private capital markets and venture capital, only 2.8 per cent of all venture funding goes to female-founded businesses.

Only 0.2 per cent goes to businesses founded by Black women, Gallop says, which stands in sharp contrast to some of the largest and most well-funded social platforms on the internet, like LinkedIn.

Recently, Gallop brought attention to the longstanding issue of the sexual harassment of women on the platform—in a post garnering more than 1,100 reactions—delivering three “design nudges” that could arrest this behaviour before it emerges.

However, in a post published last week on the technology behind fighting harassment on its platform, LinkedIn revealed it had not incorporated Gallop’s design tweaks.

“LinkedIn hasn’t implemented my design nudges, but I made sure my own startup does. Every comment box on [MakeLoveNotPorn] carries the line, ‘Please, keep it positive.’  (We’ve not yet had to censor a single comment.),” she writes for Fast Company.

“Imagine this operating on the same scale as Facebook. Imagine the world transformed by love.

“We’re ready, Prince Harry. We’re ready, as you say, ‘to remodel the architecture of our online community in a way defined more by compassion than hate; by truth instead of misinformation; by equity and inclusiveness instead of injustice and fearmongering; by free, rather than weaponised, speech.’

“We’ve been ready for years because that’s how long many of us have been building platforms that ‘place community and connection, tolerance and empathy, and joy and kindness above all,’ and yet we can’t get funded.

“When the leaders and institutions you’re calling on fund, support, and champion us—founders who are female, BIPOC, LGBTQ, disabled, and those from other underrepresented groups—you’ll see how very different the world your children grow up in will be.”

Don’t be shy, be proud of your achievements and enter B&T’s Women In Media! Submit your entry here.

You can also buy tickets to the event here, which will be held on Wednesday 28 October 2020, at Doltone House (Jones Bay Wharf).

And, if you’d like more information, head to this website.

On-time deadline: Friday 21 August 2020 (5pm AEST)

Late entries deadline: Friday 28 August 2020 (5pm AEST)

Shortlist announced: Wednesday 23 September 2020.

Thank you to all of our incredible sponsors for making the event possible! 

Please login with linkedin to comment

Cindy Gallop Duke of Sussex Prince Harry women in media awards

Latest News

Four Barriers To Overcome For Disruptive Innovation
  • Opinion

Four Barriers To Overcome For Disruptive Innovation

Zoe Aitken (main photo) is the head of consulting at behavioural science and innovation consultancy Inventium and has over 20 years’ experience helping organisations develop customer-centric growth strategies and innovation. In this guest post, Aitken says some of the best ideas come in dark times and, suggests, COVID maybe the excuse you need to instigate […]

Opinion

by B&T Magazine

B&T Magazine
Repco Unveils “Bringin’ The Bathurst” Campaign Via Thinkerbell
  • Campaigns

Repco Unveils “Bringin’ The Bathurst” Campaign Via Thinkerbell

With its rich heritage in motor racing, The Bathurst 1000 is finally in the hands of a brand that lives and breathes the sport. To celebrate, Repco is Bringin’ the Bathurst to absolutely everything they do. The Bathurst 1000 has always been more than a race. The iconic event at Mount Panorama is a symbol […]

The Zoo Republic & Sanitarium Change The Game With Their Latest Weet-Bix Prize-Bowl AR Promotion
  • Advertising
  • Marketing

The Zoo Republic & Sanitarium Change The Game With Their Latest Weet-Bix Prize-Bowl AR Promotion

Sanitarium Australia and The Zoo Republic have teamed up to develop and launch a new and exciting cricket promotion, to be found on Weet-Bix packs across the nation. Building on Weet-Bix’s affiliation with cricket superstars Ellyse Perry and Marnus Labuschagne, the promotion features AR technology to bring the cricket pitch to the breakfast table.

Independent Agency Indago Digital Adds Four New Clients
  • Marketing
  • Technology

Independent Agency Indago Digital Adds Four New Clients

Indago Digital has announced four new client wins, as the independent agency continues its growth trajectory. Indago’s new clients are P&N Bank, Oneflare, salary packaging company Smartgroup, and charity Kids Giving Back. The agency will handle a combination of SEO and paid search for each client. Indago’s digital managing director, Gary Nissim (pictured above), said: “The […]

DDB Honours Legacy Of First Copy Chief Phyllis Robinson On Her 100th Birthday
  • Marketing

DDB Honours Legacy Of First Copy Chief Phyllis Robinson On Her 100th Birthday

Phyllis Robinson was one of the founding employees of Doyle Dane Bernbach back in 1949, the agency’s first copy chief and the first female copy chief in the United States. Robinson was a pioneer, not just for women but for the creative advertising revolution that she helped ignite, changing the face of the industry forever. […]

Make A Wish Foundation Names Mindshare New Zealand As Media Partner
  • Media

Make A Wish Foundation Names Mindshare New Zealand As Media Partner

Mindshare New Zealand has announced its new partnership with Make-A-Wish Foundation, a purpose-driven charity with a mission to create life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. The partnership, which is effective immediately, will elevate Make-A-Wish Foundation’s digital marketing strategy in New Zealand. It will aim to increase and nurture donors, drive brand awareness and ultimately […]

The Australian Marks 10 Years Digital Subscription Milestone
  • Media

The Australian Marks 10 Years Digital Subscription Milestone

The Australian is celebrating a decade since it became the first general newspaper in Australia to launch its digital subscription model, marking the beginning of a new economic model for Australian newspapers. Since launching, digital subscriptions have grown to represent a majority of The Australian’s total reach, paid audience and consumer revenue. In 10 years […]

PodSpot Studios Expand To Sydney & Gold Coast
  • Media

PodSpot Studios Expand To Sydney & Gold Coast

PodSpot Studios, the first network of purpose-built studios founded by content creator and former breakfast radio host Dave Matthews, has launched in two new locations as it gears up for further national expansion amid Australia’s podcasting boom. PodSpot Studios is a collaboration between Matthews’ podcast production company PodSpot and the ASX-listed WOTSO Property, which owns and […]