Sloane Stephens meets Vice President Kamala Harris as White House launches anti-harassment Task Force

Sloane Stephens took her anti-bullying platform all the way to the White House on Thursday to help United States Vice President Kamala Harris launch a Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse.

Though the urgency for the Task Force is highlighted by recent mass shootings, the need to regulate social media has roots in cyberbullying and targeted harassment, both of which Stephens has spoken about at length in post-match press conferences and on Instagram.

“I am human,” she shared after a 2021 US Open defeat to Angelique Kerber. “After last night's match I got 2K + messages of abuse/anger from people upset by yesterday's result. It's so hard to read messages like these, but I'll post a few so you guys can see what it's like after a loss...”

Though tennis players are often specifically targeted by angry bettors—many of which Stephens proceeded to share that summer night on her Instagram story—the link between online abuse and real-world violence is only getting stronger. The sport itself has born witness to some of that violence with the 1993 stabbing of Monica Seles.

In addition to meeting Vice President Harris, Stephens was joined by fellow advocates against social media abuse in the hopes of helping the Task Force proceed as strongly as possible.

The former world No. 3 is coming off an impressive finish to her clay-court swing, having reached the quarterfinals of Roland Garros where she played two tough sets against eventual finalist Coco Gauff.