Parry Aftab - Charitable Activities

Charitable Activities

Aftab assisted the UN at its recent Cyberhate Conference.

Aftab was one of 24 experts and industry leaders appointed to the Congressionally created NTIA Online Safety and Technology Working Group (OSTWG) in 2009. She was one of the 29 members of the Berkman Center's Internet Safety Technical Task Force (ISTTF). On April 15, 2009 Parry joined Diane Sawyer in the first town meeting on morning TV, on the topic of sexting. She keynoted the Children and ICT event held in Gijón, Spain as part of the EU Safer Internet initiative.

In 2009, Parry Aftab created the StopCyberbullying Coalition to help address cyberbullying and digital abuse issues. The StopCyberbullying Coalition members include Facebook, AOL, Microsoft, Build-A-Bear, Procter & Gamble, Google, Yahoo!, Disney, Webkinz, the Girl Scouts of the USA, Buzz Marketing Group, MTV and others. Her work on sexting issues began in 1998 when a teenaged girl sent nude and sexual videos to a boy she liked. She is working with the families of the girls who took their own lives after their sexting images were used to harass them and were broadcast to their communities.

Facebook appointed Aftab to its Safety Advisory Board. She advises MTV as well.

Parry Aftab told the Minnesota School Board Association at their annual meeting in August 2009 that they need to address cyberbullying. She warned that they have to adopt a cell phone policy and enforce it.

Following September 11, Parry Aftab's charity, WiredSafety, helped protect the families of those killed at the World Trade Center. She worked to help children worldwide get past the fear they felt following the attacks. She found a rescue worker who had worked at Ground Zero with his search and rescue dog, Servous. To help children understand the rescue dogs issue better, she wrote a children's story published on WiredKids.org.