FCJMESH-008 Solutions for Online Harassment Don’t Come Easily

Jillian C. York Electronic Frontier Foundation doi: 10.15307/fcj.mesh.008.2015 When popular technologies are being used to work against people, it is natural we look for solutions. But what if there is no perfect solution? In this article he Director for International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Jillian York, examines how social media harassment leads to complicated frictions between free speech and the protection of other basic human rights. Don’t feed the trolls. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me. They’re just words. These are just a few of the things said to individuals—particularly women—who speak out about harassment they’ve experienced online. Time and time again, they are told to simply ignore it, to clamp down on their own privacy settings, or worse, that online harassment or stalking isn’t real harassment or stalking. The problem appears to be getting worse. As we increasingly…

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