According to research by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), women journalists face greater threats online in the course of their work, and the trend is increasing.
“There is significant potential for online violence to escalate to offline harm,” said Julie Posetti, research director of the ICFJ.
“Women tend to face greater threats online,” she told delegates at the Perugia International Journalism Festival. And, she added, “the kind of threats they face are increasing.”
She adds that the toxic environment was being “facilitated by Big Tech companies,” accusing them of “a failure to take responsibility.”
In a joint UNESCO/ICFJ study in 2022, nearly three-quarters of women journalists interviewed said they had experienced online violence or abuse in connection with their work. They interviewed 900 journalists from 125 countries.
Attacks online include insults, sexist and sexual comments, and physical threats, including death threats to journalists and their families.
Increasingly sophisticated attacks include blocking accounts, hacking, publishing private photos, and creating “deep fakes” or fake sexual images of people without their consent.
Violent threats tend to increase when combined with discrimination linked to skin color, religion, or sexual orientation.
Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner, was a victim of online abuse, she explained in the ICFJ-UNESCO report.
BBC disinformation specialist Marianna Spring received an avalanche of abusive tweets last year, threatening to kidnap her or slit her throat.
A fifth of the women surveyed said they had suffered attacks or insults in real life that were linked to online abuse.
The consequences can be far-reaching, with some journalists potentially dissuaded from covering sensitive topics and some choosing to opt out of the industry altogether.
Paris-based media rights campaigners Reporters Without Borders has warned that this type of harassment forms a new threat to press freedom.
As long as government does not do anything to stop this sort of harassment that targets media workers, especially women, those who are working in the field, or considering a career, will either have to deal with it on their own or find new vocations to pursue. And while the short term loser will be the aspiring journalists that are forced to abandon the trade, it is the nation that will ultimately suffer in the long term if the independence and quality of journalism is allowed to be bullied into submission.
Hopefully our leaders see the value of increasing protections for all media workers, both online and in real life, because it would be a shame to see the side that wants to suppress the truth from being freely discussed win this round.*
