
Byte back - against online abuse!
The virtual world mirrors the ‘real’ world, where women journalists are harassed, excluded and subjected to abuse for their work. Online abuse – a form of gender discrimination and violence against women – must be prevented to enable women to confidently express themselves in the digital space without repercussions.
The IFJ-led campaign launched in Asia Pacific, involving unions and press freedom organisations, calls for strong action to stop cyber-bullying and online harassment of women journalists. Journalists of all genders; their unions; media houses; moderators of social media platforms; the public and governments must take firm steps towards ensuring women’s rightful place in the digital world, without harassment, abuse and cyber-violence. Only then can a diversity of information, analysis and opinion co-exist and contribute to building healthy and vibrant democracies in the Asia Pacific.
We need you to create national discussions and to help achieve the campaign goals to:
- Raise awareness on online harassment of women journalists in Asia-Pacific;
- Engage men and women journalists to join in solidarity in a social media campaign against online abuse of women journalists in our region;
- Advocate with media houses to sign on to a draft IFJ social media policy to take action against trolls;
- Call on the public to expose and tackle trolling and harassment as a critical press freedom violation.
How can you take part?:
- What is online harassment?
- See the IFJ-SAMSN guide on what to do if you are harassed online
- Spread campaign messages with hashtags #DontTroll and/or #DefendMyVoiceOnline and mention @ifjasiapacific for our retweet
- Download our resources to help raise awareness with solid evidence and data:
- See what IFJ affiliates and activists have said about online harassment and trolling of women journalists here and send us your videos here
- Sign up to the IFJ AP mailing list here