Facebook and Time Warner are teaming up to tackle bullying with a joint campaign that encourages people to speak out.
"We believe that by working together with parents and teachers, we can teach young people to speak up and stop bullying," Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said in a statement.
Dubbed "Stop Bullying: Speak Up," the campaign will have a presence on the Internet, TV, radio, and major magazines. TV spots will appear on Time Warner's CNN and its magazines, like People, Time, and Sports Illustrated. The media company's Cartoon Network channel began touting the campaign last year.
"In partnering with Facebook for the next phase of our effort, we will now be able to communicate this important message to an even broader audience," said Jeff Bewkes, chairman and CEO of Time Warner. "I'm confident that through our multiplatform approach and combined resources we can inspire even more people to take action against bullying."
By the end of the summer, Facebook will launch an accompanying app where users can broadcast their pledge to stand up against bullying.
Facebook began a campaign against cyber bullying last fall by forming what it calls a "Network of Support," which includes the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), MTV's a Thin Line campaign, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the Trevor Project, the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), and Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Facebook and GLAAD initially partnered up to tackle hate speech on the site after a series of inflammatory comments were posted on a page dedicated to the memory of gay teens that had recently committed suicide.
As part of the March White House Conference on Bullying Prevention, Facebook also unveiled a feature called "social reporting," an upgraded reporting system that allows users to notify someone they trust if they feel they've been a target of online bullying.