Dwyane Wade explains why he disabled comments on his daughter Zaya's social media accounts

It's no secret that social media can harm a person's mental health, and it's one of the reasons Dwyane Wade made the decision to disable commenting on accounts of his 15-year-old daughter, Zaya Wade's social media. For Wade and his wife, Gabrielle Union, who is Zaya's stepmother, nothing is more important than giving their child a safe space to express themselves. For now, that means limiting who can comment on their posts.

Wade revealed in a recent interview with 'Today' that he and Union discussed their decision with Zaya after reflecting on the experiences of Wade's son, Zaire. "Well, we have a 20-year-old Zaire, who went through it a few years before Zaya, of jumping on social media and all the negativity that comes with social media and comments," he explained. "And so we went through it once, and we saw how it affected him."

The former NBA star went on to acknowledge that the social media space is even more complex for Zaya, who came out as transgender in 2019. When he and Union sat down with their daughter, they were acutely aware that there was a "whole different conversation going on in the world, and it's way uglier" than what Zaire had to deal with as a teenager.

"Zaire's conversation was about sports. Zaya's is about what a lot of people don't even understand and don't even understand," he explained on the morning show. "And so we sat down with Zaya about being on social media. She and my wife and I just talked about it, we just want to make sure she's going to be on social media, if she going to show people some of her life, it's going to be the people she wants, it's around her."

Wade and Union have spoken frequently about LGBTQ+ rights since Zaya's exit. In June, the father of five spoke about his fears for Zaya and other young transgender people at the Time100 summit. Along with sharing his concerns for his daughter's safety, he also expressed his wish that politicians would learn more about LGBTQ+ issues. "When you're out there making rules, if you're not going through that... Come live a day with my daughter," he said. "Come see what it's like to walk through this world like her."

As Wade and Union continue to fight for transgender rights, they are also focused on keeping their daughter's online experience safe and happy. First and foremost, it means showing her that the most important people in the world are the ones who really know her, not random commenters on social media.

"Everyone on the...