International Women’s Day 2025: Meet five women fighting for online safety
Women are at the forefront of the fight for online safety. This International Women’s Day, we’re highlighting five online safety advocates who are doing crucial work to protect women, kids, and teens online, as well as to stop the amplification of harms, hate, and misinformation by social media platforms.
CCDH is proud to have collaborated with advocates Anna Mockel, Kristin Bride, Nicki Reisberg, Sharan Dhaliwal, and Madi Parsons. Their efforts support our mission and empower other women to fight for online safety.
We asked why they advocate for online safety and why it is important to them. Check out what they said:
Anna Mockel, mental health advocate.
“Social media has the power to influence our mental health, both positively and negatively. I advocate for online safety because I want teens to find support and connection through technology without the dangers that I’ve experienced”.
Anna is a mental health advocate from Maryland who shared her personal experience with online harms and eating disorders during our “Fix YouTube” campaign. You can read about her personal experience in this CBS News story.
Kristin Bride, social media reform advocate and co-founder of Fairplay’s Online Harms Prevention Workgroup.
“I advocate for online safety because after losing my 16-year-old son Carson to suicide after vicious cyberbullying, I needed to find a way to turn this tragedy into creating positive change and hold Big Tech accountable for putting profits over the safety of our children.”
Kristin Bride’s son took his own life four years ago after being cyberbullied on Yolo, a former Snapchat app that allowed users to send anonymous messages. This unimaginable grief led Kristin to pursue a legal battle for justice for her son and to protect other kids online.
Kristin spoke to our CEO Imran Ahmed about her story, the importance of reforming legislation in the U.S., and the growing movement of parents and advocates fighting for online safety for kids and teens. Watch it here.
Nicki Reisberg, host of Scrolling 2 Death Podcast and co-Founder of Tech-Safe Learning:
“Our kids are not for sale. Let’s start prioritizing the health and safety of our children over the profit of a handful of tech conglomerates.”
Nicki has interviewed our CEO Imran Ahmed on “Scrolling 2 Death” a couple of times as part of her advocacy work standing against online harms to young people. Listen to the episode about our report “YouTube’s Anorexia Algorithm” on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts.
Sharan Dhaliwal, writer and founder of Burnt Roti and Middlesex Pride.
“All women, including trans women, women of colour, queer women, disabled women - ALL WOMEN – reasonably warrant safety. The fact that it’s near impossible to accommodate them online is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard”.
In 2022, Sharan took part in our “Hidden Hate” research, when we found that Instagram was failing to act on 9 in 10 reports of misogyny in DMs.
Madi Parsons, online safety advocate.
“I advocate for online safety because I’ve seen firsthand how the unchecked power of social media can harm those unaware of the risks. Protecting individuals—especially minors—from exploitative algorithms, harmful content, and many of the other dangers stemming from the devices in our hands starts with speaking up. Sometimes, sharing your story is all you can do, but in speaking up, you are taking the first step to holding these companies accountable- making a must needed change.”
Madi bravely shared her story with us during our #FixYouTube campaign based on CCDH’s YouTube’s Anorexia Algorithm report. You can read the report here.
This International Women’s Day 2025, join online safety advocates Anna, Kristin, Nicki, Sharan, and Madi and urge governments and lawmakers to hold social media companies accountable for the harms they create.