Sinch has joined forces with the Swedish Prince Couple’s Foundation, Facebook, and others to fight cyberbullying. The aim of the #nocyberhate initiative is to encourage dialogue about online bullying and how to stop it. Sinch’s conversational designers worked in close collaboration with the foundation and Facebook to build the chatbot on Facebook Messenger, tailored to the specific needs of the initiative.
Sinch has a strong commitment to fighting online negativity and has previously used its technology to contribute to a more positive climate online. In January 2020 Sinch launched the world's first texting switchboard, #TextForHumanity, in collaboration with Mental Health America, inviting people to send positive messages to strangers as a response to the spread of online negativity. The global service connected people from 85 countries, with more than 93,000 positive messages sent and over 50,000 social shares.
By partnering with the Swedish initiative #nocyberhate (#nejtillnäthat), Sinch wishes to further contribute to a safer online environment for young people by using its technology to encourage conversations and dialogue. The initiative is built on Sinch’s conversational AI platform, Chatlayer.
“Building better relationships through authentic conversations is an important part of our mission. Cyberbullying has a profound impact on people of all ages – with this initiative, we hope to help foster a productive, genuine dialogue about the impact of cyberbullying and how to fight it. We are convinced that the first step of fighting cyberbullying is to make it a subject that can be talked about freely. It’s a true honor for Sinch to contribute to the Swedish Prince Couple’s Foundation’s #nocyberhate campaign in this way,” says Jonathan Bean, Chief Marketing Officer at Sinch.
At the Foundation’s Facebook Messenger page the chatbot, called Virtual Buddy, is already available. The chatbot has two tracks, one for adults and one for children and youth. The goal is to encourage dialogue about cyberbullying and what individuals of all ages can do to recognize and prevent it.
“The digital component is a crucial part of the next phase of #nocyberhate and we are very proud to present a tailor-made chatbot developed and designed specifically for our needs by our partner Sinch. Their unique technology and expertise make it possible for us to offer an intuitive tool for a closer conversation between adults and children and youths, which is a key to create a safer online climate,” says Kim Waller, Secretary General at the Swedish Prince Couple’s Foundation.
The #nocyberhate initiative was started as a solution-focused call-to-action which united organizations, companies, and individuals who already worked with or wanted to work against online hate. Now the foundation has further developed #nocyberhate into an initiative containing information, tools, physical activities, and much more together with several partners such as Sinch, Facebook, Fotografiska, Ingager, and Swedish Elite Football.
In addition to the online campaign, #nocyberhate will also feature an exhibition at the Fotografiska museum in Stockholm on November 2 and 3, 2021. The installation is free and open to the public.
For further information, please contact:
Solveig Rundquist
Content Specialist
About Sinch
Sinch brings businesses and people closer with tools enabling personal engagement. Its leading cloud communications platform lets businesses reach every mobile phone on the planet, in seconds or less, through mobile messaging, voice and video. Sinch is a trusted software provider to mobile operators, and its platform powers business-critical communications for many of the world’s largest companies. Sinch has been profitable and fast-growing since its foundation in 2008. It is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, and has local presence in more than 40 countries. Shares are traded at NASDAQ Stockholm: XSTO:SINCH.
Visit us at sinch.com.
