Most women journalists face online hate, gender-based attacks: Report

According to a recent global assessment, online abuse of female journalists is one of the biggest risks to press freedom in the world and has been linked to the killings of female journalists.

According to The Guardian, the researchers who conducted the research for the paper “The Chilling: Global Trends in Online Violence Against Women Journalists” spoke with more than 1,000 female journalists in 15 different nations.

Globally, the study discovered that nearly three-quarters of the female journalists polled had dealt with online aggression at some point in their careers.

Online harassment and personal threats

Threats of sexual violence and physical violence, including threats of death, were both mentioned by 25% and 18% of respondents, respectively. 13% of those polled reported receiving threats of violence against family members, including newborns and young children. 48 percent of the questioned female journalists said they have received unwelcome private social media communications.

Discriminatory pushback

Female Journalists around the world have also frequently been the focus of abuse due to factors including racism, homophobia, and other forms of discriminatory behavior by the public.

The report also reveals that agencies, sources, and even the general public conspire to spread false information about female journalists in order to prevent them from reporting critically and excelling in their fields.

Governments, the news business, and major digital corporations are being urged to take greater action in response to what the authors of The Chilling describe as “a crisis of online abuse against women journalists.”

They are also calling on social media companies to change the algorithms that promote hatred of women and to de-platform and punish those who engage in gender-based online violence.

A growth in slut-shaming and sexist reactions

The International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) and the University of Sheffield conducted the study that served as the basis for the paper, which underlines the changing difficulties faced by female journalists.

It calls out “the victim-blaming and slut-shaming that perpetuates sexist and misogynistic responses to offline violence against women in the online environment, where patriarchal norms are being aggressively reinforced.”

Case study of a female journalist

Award-winning investigative Guardian and Observer journalist Carole Cadwalladr was one of the people interviewed. Cadwalladr had revealed how the British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had been secretly gathering personal information from millions of Facebook users, primarily for political advertising.

Following an investigation by the research team, it was discovered that 10,400 distinct incidents of evident abuse were directed against Cadwalladr between December 2019 and January 2021.

In order to “humiliate, belittle and discredit” the journalist on both a personal and professional level, it was discovered that the abuse was heavily gendered.

The report also plots the relationship between online and offline violent acts, demonstrating how online abuse and threats resulted in physical harm. It draws attention to the death of Mexican journalist Maria Elena Ferral, who had previously spoken out against internet bullying by the son of a local mayor.

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