The chorus of online judgement that appears each time we have a community case could have grave implications for New Zealand’s Covid-19 response, writes Ayesha Verrall, an infectious diseases doctor and associate minister of health. It’s never easy telling someone they have HIV. But having done it dozens of times, I have grown more comfortable … Read more
Why are there so many offensive comments on the New Zealand Police Facebook page and are they breaking the law? Janaye Henry investigates. New Zealand Police Facebook pages – there are a number of them, for different regional police districts around the country – are an interesting place to spend an hour or two. They … Read more
Leonie Hayden gets in her feelings about a shitty day for Māori women. There are days in my job where I feel nothing but hopeful. Like when I think about the work being done by Nuku100, telling the stories of 100 indigenous women. Or I get to wānanga with Donna Kerridge and Ayla Hoeta, or … Read more
Māori journalists are used to receiving racist messages. Sometimes you get one that just hits different, writes Te Aniwa Hurihanganui for RNZ. Content warning: contains violent racist language. I shouldn’t have been checking my work emails. It was a Saturday night and I was in my favourite place, my grandparents’ house, where the rooms carry … Read more
Tech start-up Areto Labs noticed online abuse was stopping women from going into politics – so it did something about it. CEO Lana Cuthbertson and creative technologist Jacqueline Comer talk to The Spinoff about their abuse-fighting bot. “Imagine you have a job interview and every day, for a month, you have to walk down a … Read more
Is 2020 the year of the troll? Are you a troll? Emily Writes has a quiz to see if you can change. Sometimes I will get a Facebook message from someone saying: “Why did you ban me from your page? I’m not a troll! I was just trying to have a conversation!” Now, I might … Read more
Kathy Errington introduces a conversation with Anjum Rahman on online harm, an extract from the upcoming BWB text Shouting Zeroes and Ones, edited by Andrew Chen. Articulating what matters when we look to reduce online harm is becoming ever more important in a context where states are increasingly turning to regulation to address harms caused … Read more
Summer reissue: I’ve worked at parliament for three different MPs over five years. For the first time, I’m now working for a woman MP, and the kind of messages sent to her online are shocking. This post was first published 14 January, 2019. “Hey, what are you up to tonight?” “Is that your boyfriend?” It’s … Read more
Tech companies are stepping up their efforts around the Christchurch Call to action against online extremism. Ross Young, head of Public Policy and Government Affairs for Google New Zealand, outlines what his organisation plans to do. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern rallied the world after the atrocity of the Christchurch terror attack using compassion, ambition and … Read more
Alex Casey chats to a group of 16 year-olds about the pressures of Instagram, weird men in the DMs, and their multiple online identities. “I’m planning on getting it,” says Neha. “Just my breasts. They’re just too small. It doesn’t look really nice in clothes and stuff.” Aaliyah would too, but wouldn’t touch her butt. … Read more
Two major studies show that women and minorities in New Zealand are being harassed to the point that they’re leaving online spaces in droves. Leonie Hayden reports on the growing tension between the right to free speech and the right to live without fear. You don’t know unless you know. This is the only way to … Read more
In the latest episode of On The Rag, based on the podcast of the same name, watch as Alex Casey, Michele A’Court and Leonie Hayden wrestle with the positives and perils of being a woman online. In episode three of our On the Rag web series, we explore the ways that the promised utopia of the … Read more
If we want to reduce the harm done by social media in any meaningful and sustainable way, we have to address the root causes, writes Marianne Elliott Read the full text of the Christchurch Call here In Paris this morning Jacinda Ardern announced the successful agreement of the Christchurch Call, a voluntary pledge by governments … Read more
Following the Christchurch terror attacks parents around the world have been concerned about what their children might see online and how they might cope with the immense tragedy of the events. Emily Writes spoke to the author of Keeping Your Children Safe Online, John Parsons, about what parents should know. I met John Parsons at an … Read more
If the big sites ignore your complaints, come straight to us, say Netsafe. Alex Casey reports Netsafe have seen a spike in complaints lodged about offensive content following the white supremacist terrorist attack in Christchurch on Friday, with the majority of reports being made about content on social media sites. “We’ve received hundreds of reports … Read more
Not for the first time, the bleakest corners of the internet have apparently spawned real world tragedy. What is 4chan, and how does it foment so much hate? Even as the nation was plunged into a whirlwind of shock, horror and grief, there were plenty of online communities that had an opposite, chilling reaction – … Read more
The People’s Harassment Report, a study undertaken by ActionStation and UMR, found one in three Māori online faced racial abuse in 2018. Here we look a bit closer at the methodology of the research. From August to October 2018, ActionStation ran a pilot project called Tauiwi Tautoko where 20 volunteers were trained and supported to … Read more
A new study analysing the number of racist versus supportive comments in two large online forums reveals some sobering facts about Māori experiences online. To illustrate the difference in the Māori and Western/Pākehā worldviews about the power of speech, it’s worth looking at two different whakataukī or proverbs. The first is the old adage that … Read more
The NZ government must take a much bolder stance on the tech giants who dominate our lives online, writes Leroy Beckett from Action Station, who today release The People’s Report on Online Hate, Harassment and Abuse. I spend most of the time I am awake online, in some form or another. It’s how I keep up with … Read more
I’ve worked at parliament for three different MPs over five years. For the first time, I’m now working for a woman MP, and the kind of messages sent to her online are shocking. “Hey, what are you up to tonight?” “Is that your boyfriend?” It’s 9.37pm and I assume my MP has had the gall … Read more
‘You’ve seen what’s on his screen – imagine what’s on his mind’ warned the voiceover in a 1999 PSA about online paedophiles. The ad’s star Joseph Nunweek remembers its filming, and reflects on how our perception of internet safety has changed in the years since. Fame is fleeting, but it changes you. My television acting … Read more
In a very special edition of On the Rag, Alex, Leonie and Michele are joined by author and columnist Clementine Ford. This month’s episode of On the Rag is blessed with the presence of Clementine Ford, Fight Like a Girl author, proud feminist and dedicated “life-ruiner”. Over orange juice and avocado on toast, the team … Read more
As newsrooms push for their reporters and audiences to engage with each other on digital platforms, some women journalists say gendered harassment and abuse from media consumers has become an exhausting, and accepted, part of the job. Charlotte Graham investigates. I have worked in broadcast journalism for more than a decade, including in on-air roles, … Read more