Womentargets of online abuse
The digital age has opened up many opportunities for audiences and communities to become involved in the big debates of our time. Unfortunately, it has also enabled some a means of venting their own particular venom.
Online trolling is nothing new. For as long as media organisations, individuals and businesses have had an online presence, internet trolls have been able to bully largely without the fear of being exposed.
A survey by internet security company Norton by Symantec has revealed just how rife online bullying and abuse is and how many New Zealand woman have experienced it. Of the 500 women questioned, 52 per cent said they had suffered online abuse, with about 72 per cent of those under 30 reporting it.
What is most frightening is the responses show bullying goes much further than just sarcastic, negative or taunting comments. One in 10 respondents experienced graphic sexual harassment and one in 14 reported being threatened with sexual violence or rape. Physical violence and even death were also threatened.
Netsafe New Zealand chief executive Martin Cocker says he is particularly worried by the finding that only 9 per cent of those who said they were bullied actually reported it. Negativity is rampant on the internet, he says, with ‘‘more sexism, racism and hate online than you see publicly in real life’’.
Women of course are not the only ones victimised online. And while evidence shows white men are the least likely to experience such bullying, those of different ethnic backgrounds, religious affiliations and sexual orientations are also favoured targets.
In what is a fascinating and shocking piece of work, The Guardian has analysed 70 million online comments made on its website during the past 10 years.
Since 2006, Guardian moderators have blocked 1.4 million comments – 2 per cent of the total – for breaching its community standards. Most were abusive or irrelevant.
The analysis found that, while most of its opinion writers were white men, those experiencing the worst abuse were not. Eight were women – four white and four non-white – and two were black men. Two women and one of the men were gay, and, of the eight women, one was Jewish and another Muslim.
Faced with such findings and the apparent burgeoning of a world seemingly more deeply bigoted, vicious and violent than we ever realised, it would be easy to lose faith in humanity. It might also be a natural response to stop running comments, as some media organisations including RNZ have done.
However, that penalises those who wish to make constructive, insightful contributions and, as The Guardian says, can erode a journalism enriched by input from its readers.
The US Coral Project is considering whether design can improve the quality of comments while others have suggested those who post abusive comments be fined.
There are no easy answers and until a better system can be found, rigorous moderation must continue.