Google Launches Anti-Harassment Tech To Protect Activists, Journalists Online

In light of International Women’s Day, Google has unveiled a new tool designed for journalists, activists, and public figures to combat harassment online.

Dubbed the ‘Harassment Manager’, the feature was developed by Google’s Jigsaw in collaboration with Twitter, with a specific focus on tackling the challenges faced by high-profile women. 

“Our hope is that this technology provides a resource for people who are facing harassment online, especially female journalists, activists, politicians, and other public figures, who deal with disproportionately high toxicity online,” said Jigsaw. 

As CNET notes, a UNESCO study from 2021 showed that nearly three out of four female reporters were targeted maliciously online. 

The report highlighted that “network misogyny and gaslighting” combined with “racism, religious bigotry, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination” were used to threaten public-facing women. 

Once publications implement the source code for Harassment Manager, staff will be able to identify and document harmful posts towards them, mute or block bad actors, and hide unwanted replies to their own tweets.

Jigsaw says it sought the opinions of experts in the journalism and human rights space—including Article 19, Code for Africa, European Women’s Lobby, Feminist Internet, Glitch, International Center for Journalists, Online SOS, Paradigm Initiative, PEN America, Right To Be, The Thomson Reuters Foundation, and more—to glean different perspectives pertaining to the various communities.

Developers and non-governmental organizations can now access the code on Github for free. 

[via CNET and Jigsaw, cover image via Victor Torres | Dreamstime.com]