by Hevenn Vanhelsdingen
As digital attacks become more frequent, female journalists are increasingly exposed to online sexual assault and personal information leakages. These attacks are a threat to women’s rights and to democracy because smear campaigns and other digital attacks discourage female journalists from speaking up about issues, silencing their voices in journalism.
Taylor Lorenz, journalist for The Washington Post, covered technology from 2019-2022. When she spoke up about facing online harassment for her reporting, Tucker Carlson, Fox News Host, dedicated a lengthy bit to mocking her experiences. Carlson has a notable online presence, so it’s no surprise that this led to even more extreme online attacks against Lorenz.
But Lorenz isn’t the only journalist whose been targeted on media platforms for her work. A newly published survey conducted by UNESCO and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), reveals that online threats are becoming an increasingly dangerous trend for female journalists. In light of this survey’s results, key discussions at the 2022 World Press Freedom Day Conference have focused on addressing the role that news organizations and media platforms play in combating this issue.
“Women journalists are fighting back and they need full support,” said Dr. Tawfik Jelassi, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, UNESCO. “Different actors need to combat the environments for which this violence applies. This applies not only to users, but also lawmakers, internet companies, governments, intergovernmental organizations, and of course civil society as well.”
According to the survey, 73% of women respondents said they have experienced online violence. These attacks come in the form of consistent and brutal harassment online, threats of physical and sexual harm, as well as digital security threats that expose identifying information, impacting both the journalist and their sources.
Survey results also suggest that the trajectory of online violence is moving offline, posing potentially deadly risks for women journalists. One in five (20%) of survey respondents claimed that the online attacks they had received were later followed by offline attacks.
Current newsroom responses to this safety crisis have been ineffective. According to the survey, of the 25% of respondents who actually reported incidents to their employers, most of them received no response, were told to “toughen up”, or were even asked what role they played in the attack.
Media professionals have begun to call for more effective action against this, suggesting that newsrooms have an immediate responsibility to protect women journalists. This action should take the form of legal assistance and strategic information for combatting online attackers, an expert panel argued.
“But there’s also only so much news organizations can do when tech platforms fail to take accountability [for the violence occurring on their sites]”, said Dr. Julie Posetti, Deputy Vice President, Global Research, International Center for Journalists (ICFJ).
Tech platforms can be responsible for facilitating disinformation and toxic online environments. Citizens and political actors can use these spaces to proliferate attacks against women who speak up about sensitive issues such as gender, inequality, and corruption. This has created a space by which women journalists are forced to retreat from media platforms or self-censor in order to avoid abuse, said Jacqueline Comer, Founder and Chief Product Officer at Areto Labs.
Women journalists being unable to express their views online – for fear of abuse, as well as other online and real-life threats – creates a problem of freedom of expression and silences the voices of women on matters of importance.
There has been increased pressure on these platforms to acknowledge the harsh environments created on their sites and invest in practical solutions.
Correctly executed, these could make a genuine difference on the online wellbeing of women journalists. This is especially important as online harassment has begun to force more women journalists offline. This effect extends to women who witness the abuse of their colleagues, preventing stories from being pursued on the basis of intimidation.
When asked by moderators where big tech should be focusing their efforts, Patricia Georgiou, Head of Partnerships and Business Development at Jigsaw, gave several practical suggestions.
Firstly, Georgiou stated that there needs to be better content moderation, by which toxicity online is quickly identified and removed. According to Geogiou, tech companies must develop better language models aimed at identifying micro-aggressions and covert abuse in order to combat online violence. This can be done by ensuring algorithms are constantly updated and informed via feedback reports regarding abusive content and users.
Lastly Georgiou suggests that tech companies focus on cross-platform collaboration, to ensure that journalists are protected wherever they may present their work.
These types of efforts to combat online violence against women journalists still need to be implemented, meaning that the importance of creating safe spaces for women to work and freely express themselves continues to be a major topic.
As Julissa Mantilla Falcón, President of Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, explained, “women are not asking for favors, we are asking for justice.”