--- title: First Lady Addresses Critics of Her Anti-Cyberbully Efforts description: Melania Trump acknowledged the criticism her anti-cyberbullying campaign has received while hosting her first meeting about the issue. canonical: https://time.com/5208298/melania-trump-anti-cyberbullying-campaign/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-21T00:00:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:43:05.651Z article:section: Politics og:title: First Lady Addresses Criticism of Her Anti-Cyberbullying Efforts og:description: 'I am well aware that people are skeptical of me discussing the topic,' said Melania Trump og:url: https://time.com/5208298/melania-trump-anti-cyberbullying-campaign/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59d3ea754c3675e0/69892b7ae76ad2fc3f631732/melania-trump-cyberbullying-roundtable.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Melania Trump Hosts Roundtable On Cyberbullying With Tech Industry Giants og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: First Lady Addresses Criticism of Her Anti-Cyberbullying Efforts twitter:description: 'I am well aware that people are skeptical of me discussing the topic,' said Melania Trump twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59d3ea754c3675e0/69892b7ae76ad2fc3f631732/melania-trump-cyberbullying-roundtable.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Melania Trump Is 'Well Aware' of the Criticism Over Her Anti-Cyberbullying Campaign > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Mar 21, 2018 12:00 AM UTC  U.S. first lady Melania Trump hosts a roundtable discussion on cyber safety and technology with industry experts in the State Dining Room at the White House March 20, 2018 in Washington, DC. U.S. first lady Melania Trump hosts a roundtable discussion on cyber safety and technology with industry experts in the State Dining Room at the White House March 20, 2018 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Mar 21, 2018 12:00 AM UTC Melania Trump acknowledged the criticism her [anti-cyberbullying campaign](http://time.com/4557033/transcript-melania-trump-campaign-speech/) has received while hosting executives from tech and social media companies on Tuesday. “I am well aware that people are skeptical of me discussing this topic,” the First Lady said at her first public meeting on the issue. “I have been criticized for my commitment to tackling this issue and I know that will continue. But it will not stop me from doing what I know is right. I am here with one goal: helping children and our next generation.” Trump said fighting cyber-bullying would be one of her key projects as First Lady during a speech just before the [2016 presidential election](http://time.com/4556902/melania-trump-donald-first-lady-social-media/). The announcement invited immediate backlash, considering President Donald Trump’s frequent and well-documented pattern of [insulting people on Twitter](http://time.com/5203918/donald-trump-white-house-firing-staffing/). Executives from companies including Amazon, Google, Twitter, Snap and Facebook were present at the White House meeting. Although most major tech companies carry strict policies against harassment, they tend to depend on users to flag abusive behavior. According to a Pew Research Center poll, online [harassment is rampant](http://time.com/5206742/melania-trump-forum-cyberbullying/), with 41% of U.S. adults saying they have been targeted. Trump said she wants to help out children who have written to her about their experiences in being bullied on social media. “I believe together we can make a real difference in encouraging positive behaviors on social media,” she said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5208298/melania-trump-anti-cyberbullying-campaign/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5208298/melania-trump-anti-cyberbullying-campaign/"},"headline":"Melania Trump Is 'Well Aware' of the Criticism Over Her Anti-Cyberbullying Campaign","datePublished":"2018-03-21T00:00:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:43:05.651Z","description":"'I am well aware that people are skeptical of me discussing the topic,' said the First Lady","url":"https://time.com/5208298/melania-trump-anti-cyberbullying-campaign/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59d3ea754c3675e0/69892b7ae76ad2fc3f631732/melania-trump-cyberbullying-roundtable.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59d3ea754c3675e0/69892b7ae76ad2fc3f631732/melania-trump-cyberbullying-roundtable.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Melania Trump Hosts Roundtable On Cyberbullying With Tech Industry Giants","caption":"Melania Trump Hosts Roundtable On Cyberbullying With Tech Industry Giants","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5208298/melania-trump-anti-cyberbullying-campaign/","name":"Melania Trump Is 'Well Aware' of the Criticism Over Her Anti-Cyberbullying Campaign"}}]}] ```