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Summer Bootcamp: Digital Safety & Online Abuse Defense

A person holding a cell phone and using their other hand on their laptop keyboard in red and blue overlaying a black background; on top: “Summer Bootcamp: Digital Safety & Online Abuse Defense. Free webinar series, July 2021.” and logos of PEN America, Global Cyber Alliance, and Freedom of the Press Foundation

Writers, journalists, and media organizations are increasingly doing their work online, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This digital shift offers tremendous opportunities, but it also carries risks. Nation states, corporations, and ideological groups can surveil and hack into personal and professional devices to destroy years of work or expose sources. Online abuse, from hateful slurs and sexual harassment to impersonation and doxing (the publishing of private info), can threaten livelihoods, damage reputations, and lead to self-censorship and even real-life violence.

Join PEN America, Freedom of the Press Foundation, and the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) for a free webinar series offering a crash course on digital safety and online abuse defense for journalists, writers, and media organizations.

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Session 1: Online Abuse Self-Defense Training

Wednesday, July 7
1:00pm – 2:30pm ET

Writers and journalists are facing unprecedented levels of harassment online, from threats, hateful slurs, and sexual harassment to coordinated cyber mobs. Whether you’ve been targeted by online abuse or witnessed it, this session will equip you with practical tools and strategies to defend yourself. 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.

REGISTER HERE

Speakers

Viktorya Vilk headshotViktorya Vilk 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 headshotGisela Pérez de Acha 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 2: Hands-on Anti-Hacking, Anti-Doxing Workshop

Wednesday, July 14
1:00pm – 2:30pm ET

Writers and journalists are increasingly expected to have an online presence and engage on social media, which puts them at risk of abuse—especially if they identify as women, LGBTQ+, and/or BIPOC. 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 PEN America and Freedom of the Press Foundation for an interactive 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.

REGISTER HERE

Speakers

Viktorya Vilk headshotViktorya Vilk 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 headshotHarlo Holmes 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.


Session 3: Bolster Your Cyber Hygiene Training

Wednesday, July 21
1:00pm – 2:00pm ET

Digital security is critically important to protecting your research, your sources, and yourself. Building on Global Cyber Alliance’s free Cybersecurity Toolkit for Journalists, this session will walk you through real-world scenarios and practical tools and guidance for protecting your devices, accounts, and communications, whether you’re an independent journalist, staff reporter, editor, or small newsroom.

REGISTER HERE

Speakers

Julian Hayda headshotJulian Hayda is the Craig Newmark Journalist Scholar at the Global Cyber Alliance. His role is to provide journalism domain knowledge to cybersecurity projects at GCA. He has a decade of experience in multimedia journalism, nonprofit media, and community engagement in the United States and Ukraine. Most recently, he produced and reported on a human rights beat for various NPR member stations.

Rodney Lee headshotRodney Lee is the Internet Integrity program manager at the Global Cyber Alliance. His role is to provide support and technical training for The GCA Cybersecurity Toolkit for Journalists. He is a U.S. Air Force veteran with over 12 years of experience in maintenance and operations.


Session 4: Digital Safety Office Hours

Thursday, July 22
3pm ET

Need to figure out more secure channels to communicate with sources? Wondering how exactly VPN and TOR works to protect you when browsing online? Want to set up multi-factor authentication but have no idea where to start? Join Freedom of the Press Foundation, Global Cyber Alliance, and PEN America for an open office hours session, and we can talk you through your questions on digital safety and online abuse.

REGISTER HERE


Co-Hosts

PEN America logo    Freedom of the Press Foundation logo

Global Cyber Alliance logo

 

With the Support of

Asian American Journalists Association logo    Writers Guild of America East logo

Report for America logo    Society of Environmental Journalists logo

Institute for Nonprofit News logo

Free Press Unlimited logo