Organization for Social Media Safety

The Organization for Social Media Safety was founded by Ed Peisner in 2017 after his teenage son Jordan was viciously assaulted and left with lifelong, debilitating injuries. Sadly, the assault was filmed and uploaded to social media by the attacker’s friend. Now, this  video lives forever on social media and has been viewed by thousands. 

Ed quickly resolved to make sure that no other child or family had to suffer such an ordeal. So, he dedicated himself to public policy advocacy and grassroots engagement. Incredibly, within only a year, because of a lot of hard work, California passed the nation’s first law to deter social media motivated violence, attacks committed for the purpose of being filmed and distributed on social media to gain internet notoriety. The law was aptly called Jordan’s Law.

In 2018, the Organization for Social Media Safety expanded its mission becoming the nation’s first truly independent social media watchdog and consumer protection organization. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Organization for Social Media Safety works to make social media safe for everyone.

SMS takes a comprehensive approach to social media safety by:

·     educating on safe social media practices

·     advocating for public policies that protect social media consumers of all ages

·     and developing technology to provide real-time protection from social media-related threats.

SMS receives expert advice on its program offerings from an Advisory Council which includes: members of Congress, state legislators, school board members, education experts, technology experts, social workers, and media experts.