Online abuse self-defense training, presented by PEN America

Panelists:

  • Jeje Mohamed, senior manager, digital safety and free expression, PEN America 
  • Maryn McKenna, author, professor and senior writer with WIRED (facilitator)

By Tracey Drury

Journalists are increasingly exposed to online abuse, often made worse by topics they write about as well as their sexual identity, gender or inclusion in a minoritized population. 

Writers and editors learned how to prepare for and prevent abuse, how best to respond when attacks happen and how to support others.

Avoiding engagement with the online world is impossible because it's the setting where journalists form relationships, do their research and publicize their work, Maryn McKenna said. And it’s been getting increasingly risky, she noted, pointing to studies as recent as 2021 by the International Center for Journalists and UNESCO that found nearly three of four women journalists in an international survey said they'd suffered online abuse.

“As all those surveys found, that online harassment and abuse is not merely a matter of an outraged reader or viewer calling you names,” she said. “Increasingly, harassment and abuse are weaponized by political or nationalist actors and facilitated by bot deployment.”

Jeje Mohamed said preparation is the key to helping mitigate online abuse. That starts with separating one’s personal and professional lives online with separate social media accounts and limiting public posts that share information about family members and where a journalist lives and works.

“You can practice your freedom of expression for everyone you know in a way that is safe,” she said.

When it does happen, consider if/how to respond, Mohamed said.

“Do a threat assessment on the potential for violence and if you’ll be targeted by a mob or a potential bot army. You can’t win against robots,” she said. 

  • Prevention: Identify and protect sensitive accounts with 16-digit passwords and two-factor authentication (2fa) programs; use password managers or vault apps; consider alternative non-truthful responses to security questions; delete online references.
  • Respond appropriately: Assess the threat potential of abusers to determine if/when to get law enforcement involved; document abuse and create a paper trail; consider blocking, muting, restricting or reporting abusers to online platforms.
  • Support and allyship: Be there for others and establish a supportive cyber community of your own to provide rapid response and help monitor your content; leverage influence, privilege or power to denounce hate or fact-check false claims.

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