Hate and digital violence: holding platforms accountable. Conversation with whistleblower Frances Haugen

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Every day, politicians, journalists and activists are insulted, threatened or defamed online. Girls and young women* in particular are affected by hate and sexual harassment: they receive photos of male genitalia, their cell phones are infected with spyware to control them, intimate photos are uploaded to porn platforms without their consent and knowledge. Orchestrated women-hating groups such as incels and right-wing extremists specifically use algorithms to run hate campaigns against politicians, journalists or activists. The result: those affected increasingly withdraw from digital spaces and/or no longer express themselves on certain topics. They are deliberately pushed out of the digital public sphere.

Big communication platforms like Facebook, YouTube and others do little to create safe spaces for users. On the contrary, the platforms make money with hateful and divisive content, which they use to capture their user’s attention and will keep them on the platforms for as long as possible. There is no doubt about this since the latest revelations of whistleblower Frances Haugen. Women and girls - like all people affected by digital hate - are defenceless on the platforms.

Together with Frances Haugen, Ann-Katrin Müller and Alexandra Geese we will talk about how digital violence is used to target women*, what the platforms know about it and what needs to be done now. The Digital Services Act that is currently being negotiated in Brussels, could set the course for user rights and obligations for platforms.

With:

• Frances Haugen, Whistleblower, former data engineer and scientist as well as product manager at Facebook
• Ann-Katrin Müller, Journalist, Der Spiegel
• Alexandra Geese, Member of the European Parliament, The Greens/EFA

Moderation: Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, Managing Director/CEO, Hate Aid

Language: English with simultaneous translation

Information: Vérane Meyer, Head of Digital Policy Division, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, verane.meyer@boell.de, +49 30-285 34 – 241

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