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SXSW harassment summit kicks off despite threats of violence
Source: The Guardian
SXSW harassment summit kicks off despite threats of violence
The internet amplifies harassment and bullying in the physical world,
but politicians, tech companies and society all need to make the internet
safe for all
Nellie Bowles in Austin, Texas
Saturday 12 March 2016 18.16 GMT
Extra security guarded the door at the day-long online harassment summit that began Saturday at Austin’s SXSW tech festival.
It’s for a good reason: threats of violence often accompany those who speak about the online hate mob Gamergate and its impact on women and minorities in the video game community. Those threats led the SXSW organizer Hugh Forrest, citing “threats of on-site violence”, to plan to shut down this Gamergate discussion session. After public outcry, organizers relaunched it as a full-day program.
It’s a huge topic. Forty percent of internet users have experienced online harassment, according to Pew’s Maeve Duggan, and it’s most pronounced among young people: of those 18-29 years old, 65% have experienced harassment. Facebook is the number one place where it’s happening, according Andrea Weckerle, the founder of CiviliNation, which researches online harassment.
Weckerle added one statistic she found especially important: 12.9% of people say they’ve been physically threatened online. “Online is offline,” Weckerle said.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
The internet amplifies harassment and bullying in the physical world,
but politicians, tech companies and society all need to make the internet
safe for all
Nellie Bowles in Austin, Texas
Saturday 12 March 2016 18.16 GMT
Extra security guarded the door at the day-long online harassment summit that began Saturday at Austin’s SXSW tech festival.
It’s for a good reason: threats of violence often accompany those who speak about the online hate mob Gamergate and its impact on women and minorities in the video game community. Those threats led the SXSW organizer Hugh Forrest, citing “threats of on-site violence”, to plan to shut down this Gamergate discussion session. After public outcry, organizers relaunched it as a full-day program.
It’s a huge topic. Forty percent of internet users have experienced online harassment, according to Pew’s Maeve Duggan, and it’s most pronounced among young people: of those 18-29 years old, 65% have experienced harassment. Facebook is the number one place where it’s happening, according Andrea Weckerle, the founder of CiviliNation, which researches online harassment.
Weckerle added one statistic she found especially important: 12.9% of people say they’ve been physically threatened online. “Online is offline,” Weckerle said.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/12/sxsw-gamergate-harassment-summit-bullying-panel
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Don't these assholes know that they're only proving the point the seminar was trying to make in the first place? 
