Women journalists face more online harassment
- Shruti Sundar Ray
- Mar 5, 2020
- 3 min read
While online attacks and trolling have become commonplace, women and non-binary journalists face greater harassment. Such attacks are more than personal—they have a serious impact on media freedom and plurality
Women journalists are not only hounded for their views but also face extra flak for being women. A number of studies conducted globally point to increasing attacks on women and non-binary persons. More so than with other journalists, these attacks often have a misogynistic slant to them.
“Journalists are regular targets of online attacks and female journalists face a double-burden: being attacked as journalists and as women,” states the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
In a report by Al Jazeera, Hannah Storm, director of the International News Safety Institute, explains that women are three times more likely to receive online harassment than their male colleagues.
Women and non-binary persons are also more likely to face attacks related to their appearance, gender or sexuality. According to a study by Amnesty International, 58% of survey participants across all countries who had experienced abuse or harassment said it had included racism, sexism, homophobia or transphobia.
The harassment of women journalists has a serious impact on media freedom. A report by Trollbusters and International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) found that 37% of the women journalists who responded avoided certain stories after being harassed and 29% considered changing their profession.
“Abuse can also manifest itself in invisible ways: In the stories that have gone untold or unexplored by women because the risks of telling them, psychologically or physically, require too damn much,” notes Anne Helen Petersen writing for the Columbia Journalism Review. If journalists feel that they are going to face retaliation for their coverage or views, the result could be self-censorship and what has been called a ‘silencing’ effect.
Online hate directed at women or non-binary journalists is an attack not only on media freedom but also on plurality and representation in the media. Threats of sexual violence and other intimidation tactics are intended to snuff out minority voices.
The attacks on journalists may be discrete attacks by individual ‘haters’ acting alone or more concerted attacks by ‘troll armies’, who may have the backing of authoritarian regimes.
The attacks also assume various forms. The IWMF report categorises the different kinds of threats faced by women journalists—direct harassment (including being called offensive names, being threatened physically), invasion of privacy (including being hacked, having information or images exposed online without permission, being impersonated, being monitored) and denial of access (including being spammed with a large number of unwanted messages, being blocked, technical attacks that overwhelm a device, site, server or platform).
Individual instances of harassment differ but there are some similarities in how women journalists face attacks worldwide. According to Internet Health Report 2019 by Mozilla, “True everywhere, is that attackers are rarely held accountable.”
Despite a widespread acknowledgement of the problem, not much has been done to address it. Some have recommended that in the face of attacks, journalists should block or mute offending users or remove comments altogether. Others believe that this is no solution. They suggest a more proactive approach and highlight that it is important to remain cognizant of the kinds of threats coming through.
In an interview with CNN, Courtney Radsch, advocacy director for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) highlights the role of social media platforms in monitoring such behaviour. “It's not enough to mute or block somebody, you need to know if those threats are coming through, and we need more proactive responses from the tech platforms,” she urges.
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