The Chilling: Assessing Big Tech's Response to Online Violence Against Women Journalists

This report is an extracted chapter of a more comprehensive UNESCO-commissioned global study on online violence against women journalists produced by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ). It looks into the role played by the big tech companies, mainly social media platforms, as vectors and facilitators of gender-based online violence targeting women journalists.

It assesses the responses of these companies to the problem and makes recommendations for more effective countermeasures, which include, among others:

• Continuous review of their policies, algorithms and moderation processes to address the evolving nature of gender-based online violence while working closely with women journalists and civil society groups to co-design new solutions.
• They are developing more sophisticated abuse reporting systems with the capacity for escalation for women journalists under attack (and their employers), recognizing their particular vulnerabilities and the implications for press freedom.

Implementing a coordinated multi-stakeholder approach to protecting women journalists from online violence brings together all platforms, female journalists, civil society, news organizations, governments, and independent experts at national and international levels.