‘This Woman’
A case study on Maria Ressa is a chilling peek into violence many women journalists face online
A report released earlier this week by the International Center for Journalists, in time for International Women's Day, offers a deep (and harrowing) dive into the online abuse against Rappler CEO Maria Ressa. It is also, ICFJ says, a peek into what many women journalists have been experiencing and that can be considered gendered online violence.
THAT REPORT, HERE:Maria Ressa: Fighting an onslaught of online violence
The study looks at 400,000 tweets against Ressa from December 2019 and February 2021 as well as 57,000 posts and comments about her on Facebook from 2016 to 2021.
Although much of the content, 60%, were meant to undermine her credibility as a journalist, the study found that "14% of all abuse and 34% in the category of 'personal' attacks against Ressa could be classified as misogynistic, sexist and explicit abuse." Even the comments meant to damage her reputation included "calls for her to be charged, tried, raped, imprisoned and even killed for her work."
"Ressa was also frequently called 'bobo' (dumb or stupid) in these comments, while 'idiot' was a top keyword. Additionally, she was condescendingly referred to as 'ang babae', or 'this woman,' demonstrating the sexist undertones of much of the abuse that targets her," Dr. Julia Posetti, who led the study, writes.
Attacks also included doxxing, or publishing private or personal information "to motivate Ressa's online attackers to attack her offline as well."
Threats and harassment have in fact spilled offline in the cases that she is facing and, in an example that is a little sillier but is still a security risk, a handful of pro-Duterte influencers managed to slip into the building where Rappler holds office in February 2019 to picket it and "prove" that they are not online trolls.
"The role of disinformation tactics in the attacks on Ressa and Rappler reflects the findings of an ICFJ-UNESCO survey (conducted late 2020) of nearly 1000 international journalists which concluded that 41% of women respondents had experienced online violence that they believed was connected to orchestrated disinformation campaigns," Posetti writes.
She says that the attacks on Ressa show "a multidimensional picture of what it is like to be a woman journalist under fire on social media platforms."
"They are attacked, threatened, abused, discredited and harassed on a daily basis, often in targeted assaults, or as part of disinformation campaigns designed to chill their critical reporting and shut them up," she also writes, adding that most of these attacks are instigated by political actors and fueled by "coordinated 'patriotic trolls' or misogynistic mobs on social media."
RELATED: Attacks and harassment: Women journalists in the Philippines on the cost of truth-telling
Writing in September 2020 on online violence against women, Posetti says many women journalists face misogynistic harassment and abuse that may include "targeted, sexualized abuse and harassment," threats of violence against them and their female relatives, and "gendered swearing and insults targeting their appearance, sexuality and professionalism which are designed to diminish their confidence and tarnish their reputations."
They may also be targeted by orchestrated disinformation campaigns against their professionalism and their character, which may include explicit "deep fake" video and manipulated photos, "to undermine the journalist’s credibility, embarrass them into retreat, and chill critical journalism."
RELATED: Online threats against journalists mark Duterte's 100 Days
Women journalists also face digital privacy and security threats like doxxing that could escalate to physical threats.
"The abuse can be prolific and feel unrelenting. It can inflict psychological injury, cause professional harm, force women out of journalism, and lead to physical violence. It has also been linked to the murder of women journalists," Posetti writes.
Rappler, in the ICFJ report released this month, says it has taken steps to protect Ressa as well as newsroom staff, but Posetti writes in 2020 that the abuse was often dismissed in the early days of the internet as part of being online.
"Frequently, the responsibility to manage the problem was placed on the targeted women themselves, who were told to 'toughen up' and grow a 'thicker skin' because it was 'only online' and therefore not 'real' or 'serious.'"
That no longer holds true, though, if it ever did, and among the recommendations in the study is for news organizations to "provide integrated digital and physical security, as well as psychological and peer support, for women journalists targeted online."
She adds: "Women journalists under attack should be empowered to fight back against online violence, but they should not be made to mitigate the abuse they face online independently, nor should they be made to feel responsible for being targeted."
Some resources from the study and elsewhere on the internet:
● Article 19: Online abuse and harassment against women journalists
● International Press Institute protocol on online harassment
● PEN America Online Harassment Field Manual
● Bulatlat.com also released their Digital Security Policy and Guidelines for Filipino Journalists last year, which is available at a sign-up page where you can also donate to support alternative journalism.
● For more general safety during coverage, the National Union of Journalists (disclosure: I am a member) has the Philippine Journalist's Safety Guide in English, Filipino and Bisaya
Just as important and just as online, a reminder from Ressa to turn to for, if not hope, then perhaps defiance: "Bamboo sways and bends with the typhoon, weathering the storm. And in the aftermath, there it remains, standing strong!"