Disinformation, online abuse, and the free speech of women and girls

When I was at the 2022 Jobs and Skills Summit, the chair of the Tesla board told me that you know you’ve made it when the trolls come after you. She was right.

After speaking at the post-budget community sector event, a tweet to my organisation’s account - “Leanne Ho in a circle jerk with Jim Chalmers and Cassandra Goldie”

I stop using Twitter.

After advocating for protection of my local bushland on a Facebook group, the threats start – “If you don’t like it Leanne, go back to where you came from.” These echo threats I’ve heard over the years, like those in the SMH comments section to my op ed advocating for the protection against hate speech in the Racial Discrimination Act 18C.

I change my name on Facebook and withdraw from the group.

After posting an update about my domestic violence law reform work on LinkedIn, supposedly the last civil online space, a guy comments – “You look too young to be in that position, you must have had a leg up and I wonder whose leg you climbed up”

I thought about re-posting the vile comment but decide to block him instead, in uncomfortable silence.

On the evening of 7 November, I will be hosting an event in our Wotton Kearney Melbourne office on what human rights tell us about how to tackle disinformation. Save the date.

The date for our disinformation event was chosen to coincide with the week of the US election. Right now, there is no higher profile example of the crossover between disinformation and harmful online abuse of women than the attacks on Kamala Harris, especially women from diverse backgrounds. The AI deepfakes of her voice and face used to spread disinformation are both sexualised and racialised in nature.

Freedom of speech is an obvious argument for those opposed to any attempts to regulate online hate speech. These arguments resurfaced the moment the Government’s new misinformation and disinformation bill was released on 12 September 2024. Freedom of expression is an important human right. In a free society like ours, we need free speech to enable people like me, whose work involves speaking up in the interests of people who have been treated unfairly, to speak truth to power.

One of the questions I’ll be asking the panel is about the free speech of women and girls who “pay a high price for other people’s, largely men’s, ‘right’ to free speech” according to research by Plan International which found that “most girls report their first experience of social media harassment between the ages of 14-16. Gradually, they learn to protect themselves better.”

Internationally recognised expert on disinformation and democratisation, Nina Jankowicz , explains that protection often amounts to self-censorship. I realise reading Nina’s book, How to be a woman online, that this is also me.

Despite the abuse she has endured, Nina continues to speak up because “the internet is a critical public space for discussion, politics, activism and expression. Until women – all women, no matter their race, sexual identity, religion, or ability – have an equal voice there, we aren’t truly equal anywhere”.

So, I’m taking a deep breath and learning from Nina’s practical tips about how to deal with trolls, and her step by step advice about self-protection measures those of us who have the resources and time can take. It makes more sense when you read her advice in full, but here’s a quick summary:

1.????? Use a password manager with two-factor authentication

2.????? Set up two-factor authentication on all accounts that allow it

3.????? Use an encrypted messenger and a VPN

4.????? Sign up for an anti-doxxing service to clean up publicly accessible information about you

5.????? Be careful about details you share online

6.????? Take precautions when travelling

For those at risk of online abuse who do not have the resources or time, and because these individual measures can't provide anywhere near full protection, we need to skill up and advocate for systemic reforms - safety by design.

As with the positive duties created in laws to prevent sexual harassment, domestic violence and financial abuse, we need to shift responsibility for tackling disinformation and online abuse from the individual to those with the power to stop systems being weaponised for abuse.

I continue to do this work and post about it online.