The fight back against rape and death threats online

[cronus]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg2 ... Iv9ydKsXWQ

The fight back against rape and death threats online

Twitter, police and law courts are waking up to the ugly abuse that women endure online, with systems, algorithms and trials closing in on perpetrators

"CAN'T wait to rape you." That's one of the anonymous messages sent earlier this year to Janelle Asselin, a comic-book editor and writer based in Los Angeles.

Asselin had written an article criticising the cover of the comic book Teen Titans #1. The response: a slew of tweets and comments from people questioning her credentials, calling her unprintable names and sending rape threats. "Most of the women I know with a solid online presence get them regularly. This is just a thing we are forced to deal with," Asselin later wrote in a blog post.

Asselin's story is not unusual. Concern over such online harassment has escalated in the wake of Gamergate, a movement that purports to call for better ethics in game journalism but has become known for ugly attacks aimed at its detractors.

Now, it seems, the problem might have finally peaked. Social-media companies, activist groups and even federal judges are rethinking how to best handle online abuse – and how to make internet users feel safe.

"The goal of these online mobs is to scare you enough to silence you," says Allyson Kapin, founder of online-marketing firm Rad Campaign and the Women Who Tech network in Washington DC. "People really want to see social networks step in and begin to take a stand against online harassment."

Twitter in particular has stepped up its game. In November it teamed up with Women, Action, and the Media, a gender-justice group that will study how the company handles abuse problems and suggest possible improvements. And last week, the firm announced changes that will make it easier to flag problematic messages and accounts.

Attention was drawn to the issue of social-media abuse this year by several high-profile cases: game developer Brianna Wu was forced to flee her home; feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian was scared away from speaking at Utah State University over death threats; and actress Zelda Williams was driven to social-media silence after nasty messages about her father Robin Williams's suicide.

But such harassment is not restricted to a few unlucky targets – a study by Pew Research released earlier this year revealed that 40 per cent of internet users have been harassed online. More than half said that they did not know the perpetrator, and 66 per cent said the most recent abuse occurred on social media, rather than in emails, comment sections or online games.

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[mistermack]

The law in the UK is already adequate to deal with rape and death threats.
You can do substantial prison time for either.

All that's really needed is to remove the possibility of anonymity on the web.
Bring in laws that internet companies have to get solid evidence of identity, before they give an account for people to publish their thoughts.

And internet companies themselves being obliged to provide solid evidence of the owners identities.

[cronus]

Bolstering the law is a good idea. It is important to identify those who target women. Put them behind bars so women can fraternise freely without a medieval paternalistic grunt from the hills intervening.

[mistermack]

These male chauvinist pigs need sorting out.

I heard a pretty young thing complaining about them the other day.
I said to he "don't worry your pretty head, little lady ! Just tell me who's bothering you, and old Macky will go round and give him a couple of slaps ".

Bitch wasn't even grateful though. Can't work em out.

[cronus]

Humour aside there are not enough women on the web for me. And far too many men are absolute bitches.

[mistermack]

Humour aside there are not enough women on the web for me. And far too many men are absolute bitches.

Sexist.

[cronus]

Humour aside there are not enough women on the web for me. And far too many men are absolute bitches.

Sexist.

Maybe, but I'm no cad with it. Speaking from my corner that's all.