IN THE HEADLINES
- Independent music journalist Zachary Stoner and self-described “Hood CNN” was killed in Chicago. The Committee to Protect Journalists asks for a thorough investigation into whether Stoner’s community stories of Black men and Chicago gangs played a role.
- Journalists wrote an open letter to messaging apps asking the platforms to make changes that could curb online abuse, IFEX reports.
- In exposing hate-monger @AmyMek, a HuffPost reporter was doxed and Twitter suspended HIM. Find out how the dark web has weaponized the same technologies designed to protect users from threats.
- Parkland survivor David Hogg‘s home was swatted this week, where law enforcement is called to your home under false pretenses. Authorities are investigating.
- What was she thinking? Roseanne trolls Valerie Jarrett, and we learn that trolls don’t always win.
- Inside Higher Ed reports on the many ways social media is used to harass women academics. One of the article’s conclusions? “Women in particular are harassed partly because they happen to be women who dare to be public online.”
- Annemunition, a female gamer on Twitch, shows just how sexist other gamers can be.
- Rwanda gets this right? Maybe? A new law there will criminalize cyberstalking.
- And Gender Equity Victoria tries to equip bystanders to intervene in online abuse, The Guardian reports.
Highlight of the Week
Breaking the Professional Silence Around Online Abuse
Dr. Elana Newman, director of the Dart Center for Trauma and Journalists, discusses the emotional and psychological impact of online abuse on journalists. “Journalists aren’t used to being the story,” Newman says, “but they need to talk about it.” TrollBusters has worked with Dr. Newman and the #SOFJO campaign to raise awareness of the trauma of online attacks. LISTEN.
ON YOUR TO-DO LIST
Register Now to Learn Digital Self-Defense
At TrollBusters, we’re hard at work developing a series of webinars to help you protect yourself from the dark forces that lurk online. The first of these is now available, with more in the works.
Registration is now open for Orientation: Defense Against the Digital Dark Arts, a 1-1/2 hour guided tour through the dark web and digital security for journalists:
In the meantime, browse our Digital Hygiene Course, 10-minute mini lessons on digital practices to keep online pests away.
- Lesson 12: Password Managers
- Lesson 13: Security Q & A
Check out these and other lessons at Troll-Busters.org.