FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Journalist Chris Hansen to Appear with Canadian Nonprofit Giving Thanks to Petition Signers on 10-hour Live Stream
“INK-A-THON” TO SAY THANKS FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT AGE/ID VERIFICATION ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIA
April 30, 2021
DEFEND aims to reduce risks for children and vulnerable people online by educating, advocating and pushing these issues forward into the spotlight. DEFEND started a petition on change.org (Go to Petition) to rally citizens globally and support their cause of calling for a more secure online world. A year later and they have broken the 10,000 signature mark and are on their way to hitting 15,000 signatures!
DEFEND’s petition calls for legislative changes to happen and for ALL social media sites to have age/ID verification for all users.
The Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics is already investigating websites like Pornhub for issues that parallel these. The Committee has even invited DEFEND to submit a brief on its position.
On May 8, 2021, DEFEND will be hosting a unique event to bring awareness to these issues. DEFEND’s “10-hour Ink-A-Thon” which will consist of some of the DEFEND team and several celebrities thanking individually all 10,000+ people who signed its petition on a Live Stream to its 6000+ subscribers. They estimate it will take 10 or more hours to complete the entire petition. DEFEND will also be giving away $300 in prizes (Gift cards and cash) for those just watching the Live Stream.
Some celebrities helping to read names during the event include:
Chris Hansen, from “To Catch a Predator”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8purrQC1CkTaryn Manning from “Orange is the New Black”
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0543383/?ref_=tt_ov_st_smColin Mocharie, from “Whose Line is it Anyways”
http://www.colinmochrie.com/
Other celebrities who will be joining in reading names include: Bellamy Young (TV Star, Scandal), Blake Cashman (NFL linebacker), Peter Chao (Youtube & TikTok Star) and Cheryl Strayed (Best selling author of Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things)
DEFEND is thankful for each signature and supporter. Each signature represents a vote for change.
“We can say with great certainty that if we had age/ID verification for everyone online, then the world would be a safer place. People would not be sharing child porn or intimate images on Facebook’s platforms without consent and we believe online bullying would be significantly reduced.“
DEFEND Chair Romaine Bonghanya
DEFEND is a nonprofit organization that is run by more than 30 professionals from across the world. Some are parents, who are very concerned about their children’s safety using social media.
To be proactive DEFEND is currently developing with their Tech Team, a groundbreaking new social media platform which will have age and ID verification built in from the ground up. An official announcement about the $400k+ project will come during the Live Stream on May 8.
For more information, please contact:
Romaine Bonghanya, Chair of DEFEND
WeDefendChildren@gmail.com