Fall Bootcamp: LGBTQ+ Digital Safety & Online Abuse Defense
Online abuse can threaten livelihoods, damage mental health, lead to self-censorship, and even migrate offline. Members of the LGBTQ+ community are disproportionately targeted. According to a 2021 ADL/YouGov study, 64 percent of LGBTQ+ people experience online hate and harassment. From hateful slurs and sexual harassment to impersonation, account hacking, and doxing, abusive tactics are intended to intimidate, discredit, and silence. LGBTQ+ writers, journalists, creators, and activists—whose work increasingly requires an online presence—face a double bind.
But there are steps we can all take to protect ourselves and one another from online abuse. Join PEN America, GLAAD, NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, and the Trans Journalists Association (TJA) for a free webinar series offering a crash course on digital safety and online abuse defense. Hear from folks on the front line, and exchange strategies for how to stay safe and fight back.
JUMP TO:
- Session 1: Inside Baseball: Demystifying Anti-LGBTQ+ Online Abuse
- Session 2: Online Abuse Self-Defense Training
- Session 3: Hands-On Anti-Hacking, Anti-Doxing Workshop
Session 1: Inside Baseball: Demystifying Anti-LGBTQ+ Online Abuse
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
12:00pm – 1:15pm ET
What is deadnaming? How do trolls coordinate cyber mobs? Where do trolls find info for doxing, and how can I protect myself? Why did my channel get suspended? How did my account get hacked?
In the first installment of this three-part webinar series on LGBTQ+ digital safety and online abuse defense, experts and journalists will discuss real-world case studies of anti-LGBTQ+ online abuse and explore the unique challenges faced by LGBTQ+ writers, journalists, creators, and activists—with an emphasis on understanding, mitigating, and responding to abusive tactics. Join us for a dynamic discussion and come with questions.
Speakers
Evan Greer (she/her/they/them) is a queer and trans activist, musician, and writer based in Boston. She’s the director of the digital rights group Fight for the Future, leading hard-hitting campaigns on issues ranging from restoring net neutrality to banning facial recognition. Her most recent indie punk album, Spotify is Surveillance, hit the very bottom of the Billboard charts and received favorable coverage in Rolling Stone and Pitchfork. Greer is a regular guest on TV and radio discussing tech policy and LGBTQ+ issues, and writes often for outlets like WIRED, NBC News, The Guardian, Newsweek, Buzzfeed, VICE, and TIME.
Sharif Durhams (he/him/his) is the national board president of NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists and has been a member of the organization for over 20 years. He also is managing editor of The News & Observer in Raleigh, NC and has been editor at The Washington Post and CNN.
Jenni Olson (she/her/TBD) leads GLAAD’s work spotlighting new and existing safety issues facing LGBTQ social media users— dvocating for solutions in numerous realms: online hate and harassment, AI bias, polarizing algorithms, data privacy, and more—working every day to hold platforms accountable and to secure safe online spaces for LGBTQ people. Photo Credit: Bret Hartman/TED
Leigh Honeywell (she/her/hers) is the cofounder and CEO of Tall Poppy, where she helps companies protect their employees from online harassment. She was previously a Technology Fellow at the ACLU’s Project on Speech, Privacy, and Technology, and also worked at Slack, Salesforce, Microsoft, and Symantec. Honeywell has a bachelor’s in computer science and equity studies from the University of Toronto.
Kat Lo (she/her/hers) is content moderation lead at Meedan and research affiliate at the UC Irvine’s Steckler Center for Responsible, Ethical, and Accessible Technology. Her work seeks to translate the experiences of targets of harassment and online moderators into product and policy insights for social media companies and civil society. She has provided crisis support for targets of online harassment for over a decade and has worked with OnlineSOS, Tall Poppy, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Games and Online Harassment Hotline, AnyKey, and the Fair Play Alliance to tackle issues around misinformation, online hate, and harassment.
Session 2: Online Abuse Self-Defense Training
Tuesday, November 9, 2021
12:00pm – 1:30pm ET
LGBTQ+ writers, journalists, creators, and activists are facing unprecedented levels of harassment online, from threats, hateful slurs, and sexual harassment to coordinated cyber mobs. Whether you’ve been targeted yourself or witnessed it, this session will equip you with practical self-defense tools and strategies. We’ll talk about how to prepare, respond, take care of yourself, and support others. While there are no easy answers, open conversations about the impact of online abuse and how to fight back can empower you to stay online and continue exercising your free expression rights.
Speakers
Viktorya Vilk (she/her/hers) is the program director for digital safety and free expression at PEN America, where she leads initiatives on a range of free expression issues, including developing tools and strategies to empower writers, journalists, and media organizations to defend against online abuse. She has over a decade of experience working in nonprofits to expand access to the arts and defend creative and press freedom.
Gisela Pérez de Acha (she/her/hers) is a journalist focused on digital forensics and investigative reporting, with over a decade of experience combating online gender-based violence. She has a master’s degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, where she now teaches cybersecurity, and is a reporter on the extremism beat at the Investigative Reporting Program. She is a trained human rights lawyer and an open source researcher at the Human Rights Center Investigations Lab.
Session 3: Hands-On Anti-Hacking, Anti-Doxing Workshop
Thursday, November 18, 2021
12:00pm – 1:30pm ET
LGBTQ+ writers, journalists, creators, and activists are increasingly expected to have an online presence and engage on social media, which puts them at risk of abuse. From impersonation and hacking to doxing, abusive trolls join forces to intimidate, discredit, and silence. But there are concrete steps you can take to protect yourself. With your devices in hand, join us for this hands-on workshop where we’ll teach you how to outsmart the trolls. Learn how to audit your social media accounts, tighten your privacy settings, and track your personal information online so you can maintain the public profile you need to do your job.
Speakers
Viktorya Vilk (she/her/hers) is the program director for digital safety and free expression at PEN America, where she leads initiatives on a range of free expression issues, including developing tools and strategies to empower writers, journalists, and media organizations to defend against online abuse. She has over a decade of experience working in nonprofits to expand access to the arts and defend creative and press freedom.
Harlo Holmes (she/her/hers) is the director of digital security at Freedom of the Press Foundation. She strives to help individual journalists in various media organizations become confident and effective in securing their communications within their newsrooms, with their sources, and with the public at large.
Co-Organizers
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