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CAMPAIGNER SEYI AKIWOWO IS MAKING ONLINE SPACES BETTER PLACES FOR EVERYONE

Social media can be a place to make new friends, foster a sense of community and to share ideas (not to mention silly cat memes). But those benefits sometimes seem to be swamped by the negatives. The statistics back it up: a study by Amnesty International revealed that an abusive or problematic tweet was sent to a woman on average every half a minute.

Rather than accepting this depressing state of affairs, Seyi Akiwowo decided to do something about it (she has form in ‘doing something,’ being – at 23 – the youngest ever black female councillor elected to Newham, East London). Seyi experienced the very worst of social media when a speech she gave at the European Parliament went viral on Twitter – and she received torrents of abuse. Rather than be silenced, she set out to ‘Fix the Glitch’ and end online abuse.

“If I, as a woman, was being catcalled or harassed as I was walking down the street to work, would you tell me not to walk down that street, or to not go to work because it’s not safe? You don’t remove the person who is being targeted, you make that environment safer.”

That refusal to blame victims is at the nub of Glitch, Seyi’s non-profit organisation, founded in 2017. Our physical and digital worlds are entwined – it’s wrong to simply expect victims to ignore it. Abuse not only has a psychological impact: by forcing women, particularly women of colour, people with disabilities and religious minority communities (who are disproportionately more likely to face abuse) offline, it affects our democracy too. And not all online abuse is visible. Technology-related domestic abuse cases (encompassing the likes of revenge porn and cyber stalking) have also risen.

Through Glitch, Seyi campaigns at all levels – governments to tech companies, to young people, to, well, you and me. As Seyi emphasises, as we’re finding our way with a relatively new technology, “we all have a role to play.” Just as “we protect our parks, community centres, schools and high streets,” she urges us to “protect our online spaces, too.” Rather than remaining neutral, we can be “active bystanders.” The ‘Fix the Glitch’ toolkit offers practical steps, from reporting abuse to supporting someone being targeted – it was the “outpouring of support from strangers and loved ones” that Seyi credits with getting her through her own experience.

Being good digital citizens brings the reward of a space where we can hear different voices and fresh ideas (as well as to swap a cat meme or two…). fixtheglitch.org

“You don’t remove the person who is being targeted, you make that environment safer for them”