Page 41 - Tehelka Issue 13 - July 15, 2018

media

and through Byteback Campaign, the the police.
organisation, IFJ, aims to achieve its ♦ Request access to technical, legal
campaign goals which are: and psychological support.
♦ Devote editorial resources to cover-
♦ Raise awareness on online har- age of these issues.
assment of women journalists in ♦ Make a plan to deal with potential
Asia-Pacific; harassment at the commissioning
♦ Engage men and women journal- stage of “lightning rod” stories
ists to join in solidarity in a social Extending her support she asked
media campaign against online the representatives of press freedom
abuse of women journalists in our to “Develop holistic strategies: involve
region; cyber security staff, senior editors, ed-
♦ Advocate with media houses to sign itorial trainers, workplace health and
on to a draft IFJ social media policy safety teams, and social media edi-
to take action against trolls; tors in developing and disseminat-
♦ Call on the public to call out trolling ing online harassment policies and
and harassment as a critical press guidelines.”
But, will these techniques help
women journalists, bloggers to fight
The hit list of the crime of online harassment, the
answers still remain.
sock puppetry to derive support for online victims from The rise of conservative govern-
their point of view, especially while ments across the world has to led to
editing an article that has contentious India has names an increase in crushing of dissent
views by many people. like Barkha Dutt, and the restriction of the freedom of
The Organisation for Security and press. The harassment of journalists
Cooperation in Europe, in its report Patricia Mukhim, is mainly driven by political groups
released in February 2016 ‘New Chal- who loathe any kind of criticism. In-
lenges to Freedom of Expression: Rana Ayyub, Nidhi dia, as an example, is witnessing a
Countering Online Abuse of Female Razdan, Sagarika similar phase of an administration
Journalists’, said that women journal- which encourages vicious trolling
ists, bloggers and other media actors Ghose and Dhanya of female journalists. Police reports
are “disproportionally experiencing Rajendran if filed are ignored and deliberately
gender related threats, harassment delayed, no action is taken against the
and intimidation on the internet abusers, partly because there are no
which has a direct impact on their freedom violation. concrete laws or the trolls somehow
safety and future online activities.” In a Summit held in 2016, London, support a major political group so en-
On the occasion of International noted journalist Julie Posetti of Fair- joy the support.
Women’s Day, March 8, 2017, famous fax Media talked about dealing with Make laws for social media deco-
journalist organisation International online harassers and advised some rum and punish the guilty to the ex-
Federation of Journalists (IFJ), known tips to deal with them: tent they fear doing the same thing
as protector of freedom of press, again. Social media platforms like
started the Byteback Campaign call- ♦ Acknowledge the problem and take Facebook or Twitter should make
ing the entire torchbearers of press the impacts seriously. stringent policies which discour-
freedom organisations to commonly ♦ Provide specific training for wom- ages female harassment online, and
fight to stop the steady trend of troll- en journalists to help them deal suspend accounts which don’t fall in
ing, cyber-bullying, online harass- with online misogyny. line. All we need now is action and an
ment, etc. meted against the women ♦ Ensure that senior management is immediate stop to such immoral and
journalists across the world. There is aware of the issues and disseminate unethical behavior.
a need to create national discussions to all staff.
on the topic of online harassment ♦ Escalate early, report breaches to letters@tehelka.com

Tehelka / 15 july 2018 41 www.Tehelka.com

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