1 of 21

Digital security for journalists

How to shield your information online, how to respond to harassment, and how your news organizations can be a proactive partner in the fight.

2 of 21

Warning: this presentation will be focusing on harassment, threats and violence against trans people online. Please do what you need to care for yourself during the presentation.

3 of 21

Say it with me now: online harassment is NOT just mean comments

  • Harassment online can easily transform into real-world violence.
    • Online harassers often weaponize their own anonymity and their victims’ personal information to do as much harm as possible.
  • Harassment can also have significant impacts on physical and mental health, and can have professional consequences if people target your employer or reputation.

4 of 21

Online harassers can:

  • Dox you (sharing your personal information like an address, phone number, etc online)
  • SWAT you (aka calling in a serious threat to your home, leading to a SWAT team.)
  • Send police to your house
  • Come to your house
  • Call your friends
  • Call your employers

5 of 21

Not all trolls are created equal

  • Opportunists
  • Government actors
  • Interest groups
  • Private sector
  • Organized crime

6 of 21

And neither is the harassment itself:

    • Doxxing
    • Dog whistling
    • Cyber mob attacks
    • Online impersonation
    • Concern trolling
    • Image misrepresentation
    • Threat by association

7 of 21

8 of 21

Now, how do you respond to online attacks? And what steps can you take to prevent them?

9 of 21

10 of 21

If you are the target of a campaign:

  • Assess the threat.
  • Document the abuse. Take screenshots, build a spreadsheet, take note of names, timestamps, nature of harassment/threat.
  • Lock your social media accounts/secure other accounts with *strong* passwords.
  • If personal information has been leaked, call your banks/utilities/cell companies and ask them to flag your information for potential theft.
  • If possible, tell your editor/employer. They *should* already have a plan ready.

11 of 21

But before harassment occurs, there are things you can do to safeguard your personal information.

12 of 21

Your newsroom (if you have one) should be a proactive partner in this. The cost should not be yours to bear.

13 of 21

Put those journalism skills to use!

  • Doxx yourself….to yourself.
    • Take a census of what information is out there. If you use databases like FamilyTreeNow to look up sources’ information, do the same for your own. Seeing what information is out there will make it easier for you to scrub it from the internet.
  • Yael Grauer, an investigative tech reporter covering privacy and security at Consumer Reports, put together this list of data brokers, broken down by priority. There are 16 deemed “high priority.”

14 of 21

15 of 21

Social media, what you know you’re putting out there, and what you don’t.

​

16 of 21

Remove as much personally identifiable information as you can.

  • Your birthday and other sensitive information that could be used to hurt you should be difficult for abusers to find.
  • Is it easy to figure out who you’re dating, meeting, or living with? You may want to remove photos, account links, and other connections to people you’d like to keep safe.
  • Think of what you’re putting out and what it may show. It’s a balancing act where the only counterweight is what you’re comfortable with.
  • But also be mindful of the information you are unintentionally putting out. Do you check in to the same coffee shop every week? Did you post a picture of your new home the day you moved in? Think of what information you are passively providing online — and scrub it!

17 of 21

18 of 21

19 of 21

You don’t have to do it yourself!

20 of 21

Extra resources Pt 1:

​

21 of 21

Extra resources P2:

​