Stop the silence…Sharing your #onlineabuse is self-care

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:

This 1 1/2-hour webinar, taught by Michelle Ferrier, provides an orientation to online abuse and digital security, the legal boundaries of online speech and ways in which journalists are exposed to online harassment. Participants will also generate their personal threat model and explore tools for protecting their digital reputation online and off. Learn more about our course offerings.  Register now.

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.