Booklet on children’s online safety for first lady’s ‘Be Best’ campaign seems almost identical to one first published by FTC four years ago

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A booklet published by Melania Trump’s new campaign for children’s online safety bears an uncanny resemblance to a document released under Barack Obama’s administration.

Melania Trump launches campaign to help children stay 'healthy and balanced' Read more

Donald Trump’s wife gave an opening night address at the Republican National Convention in 2016 that was partly plagiarised from a speech by then first lady Michelle Obama.

Melania’s initiative, Be Best, which launched on Monday, has a page on the official White House website that said near the bottom: “Parents, click here to read Talking with Kids about Being Online, a booklet by First Lady Melania Trump and the Federal Trade Commission.”

The Rude Pundit (@rudepundit) Fun fact: The White House trumpets “Talking with Kids about Being Online" as "a booklet by First Lady Melania Trump and the Federal Trade Commission." Except for an intro, it's exactly the same thing Obama's FTC put out. pic.twitter.com/AEf6F0gBbt

Later, in an apparent damage limitation exercise following a backlash on social media, the website’s language was updated to describe the pamphlet as “a Federal Trade Commission booklet, promoted by First Lady Melania Trump”.

A White House official confirmed that the wording on the website had been changed, offering an explanation that “there seemed to be confusion so we wanted to be clear”.

Visitors who click on the link are taken to a pdf file of a booklet that is almost identical to one first published by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2014 under the title: Net Cetera – Chatting with Kids About Being Online.



Their front covers, an array of 16 symbols in grey and orange, are the same except for a minor tweak to images of mobile phones to make them look more like iPhones. This upgrade has been carried out throughout the booklet.

The 2018 document, part of Melania’s initiative unveiled in the White House rose garden on Monday, includes a preface accompanied by her photo and signature. “The lessons in this booklet can help kids act thoughtfully and kindly,” she writes.

But the following pages, full of advice for parents of “tweets” and “teens”, suggest her input was vanishingly small. They both include, “Talk to your teens about avoiding sex talk online,” and “Talk to your kids about bullying.” But the updated version has an addition: “Tell your kids to talk to you about bullying, too.”

The original FTC handbook has a heading that says: “Sexting.” The new handbook says: “Sexting: Don’t Do It.”

In the 2016 plagiarism row at the Republican convention, junior aide Meredith McIver eventually took responsibility for the error, saying that Melania had read passages of Michelle Obama’s speeches to her over the phone and she had included some of the phrasing in the final draft.

On Tuesday Melania’s office issued a statement attacking “opposition media” for its coverage of the similarity between the two booklets.

“Despite providing countless outlets with ample background, information, and on-the-record comments from the FTC, some media have chosen to take a day meant to promote kindness and positive efforts on behalf of children, to instead lob baseless accusations towards the First Lady and her new initiatives,” it said.

The statement quoted Nathaniel Wood, consumer and business education division associate director of the FTC, as saying: “We were excited that Mrs Trump distributed this important information about staying safe online. We look forward to continuing to work with her and others to help parents and children use the internet safely and responsibly.”

The first lady’s office added: “Our office will continue to focus on helping children and I encourage members of the media to attempt to Be Best in their own professions, and focus on some of the children and programs Mrs Trump highlighted in her remarks yesterday.”

• This article was amended on 8 May 2018 to swap the order in which the FTC handbook headings on sexting appeared.