‘The goal is silence’: Women journalists report increasing violence online

Immediately following her moderation of a 2016 presidential debate in the Philippines, in a deliberate campaign to bully the press, tens of thousands of vulgar and threatening comments appeared in Davila’s social media feeds – every hour. Although it was clear the commenters were bots, the misogynistic attacks were designed by humans to damage her credibility and her sense of safety.

The campaign of online violence was a message to the country and to journalists. “They want to push you to silence so that you don’t criticize the actions of the administration”, says Davila.

“What’s important to me is my integrity, something I’ve fought for all my life”, she reflects. “Being a journalist, you’re built tough. But you start to question your own sense of integrity, because that’s what trolling and harassment make you do.”

Cases like Davila’s have a potential chilling effect on women pursuing careers in journalism – and on freedom of the press itself. UN Women is working with gender equality advocates like Davila to expose the reality of online harassment and the cost it exacts on women in media and the public sphere.

In our latest Tipping Point report, UN Women, TheNerve and partners uncover the growing and increasingly sophisticated forms of online violence faced by women in the public sphere. 

In a survey for the report, 45 per cent of women journalists and media professionals reported self-censoring on social media to avoid abuse – a 50 per cent increase since 2020. And almost 22 per cent say they are self-censoring at work.

“Journalists have always been targeted”, explains Francesca Donner, founder and editor of The Persistent. “The job of a journalist is to uncover, reveal, go deep into uncomfortable places, and put that out there for all the world to see. And certain people don’t want that.”

“Women journalists have been targeted in very specific ways. And whether you’re a journalist, a politician, an activist, or anyone that’s visible, the motivation [of the attacks] is always the same: Get them to stop writing, talking, running for office, doing their activist work. The goal is silence”, says Donner.

With deepfake photos, videos and nudification apps, generative AI has taken online violence from text comments and memes a few years ago, to ultra-realistic photos and videos today. “All a bad actor needs is a photo”, says Donner. “[AI-assisted attacks] are virtually impossible to put back in the bottle – and this has always been the way with online violence.”

As Donner explains, when these online attacks start, “It’s like someone lighting a match and trying to get others to pile on. It can seem so minor in the grand scheme of things, but it’s done with ill will, with the intent to troll.”

And then it escalates: “The unpleasant and unkind things said; violent things said; your photo posted; your address posted; [images of] your children, your family, all of the things that people can possibly go after. It spills over into real life.”

Core to Davila’s work is appearing on television, hosting political discussions and delivering primetime news. Digital perpetrators weaponize that visibility. 

Davila has seen deepfake images of herself selling questionable health products and finance schemes; fake videos of herself walking out the studio and fighting with politicians.

She explains how her likeness is abused as part of sophisticated scams. “They use this salacious or provocative content to drive traffic to pages and gain online followers. Then, come the 2028 elections, they will erase all evidence [of the fake content] and suddenly, it becomes a ‘legitimate’ page for a politician.”

“Whether you are harassed, sexually harassed, face cyber libel, or have images that are spread without your consent, at the end of the day, the victim is the one making the effort to correct it”, explains Davila. “And imagine the effort. That’s what angers me. Platforms are not held to account, even as they become more popular and more powerful.”

In the course of fighting online violence and disinformation, Davila has hired legal services, collected and tracked the numerous pieces of abusive content, and sent countless letters. Even when posts and accounts are deleted, new ones appear in their place.

Fourteen per cent of women journalists and media workers surveyed through Tipping Point have taken action against perpetrators, enablers or employers. But nearly a quarter report having been diagnosed with anxiety or depression related to the online violence they’ve experienced. Almost 13 per cent reported being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Donner describes how even the anticipation of online violence can take a toll on journalists. “The fear is so prevalent that [you wonder], ‘If we do this, if we write this kind of story, are we going to get attacked?’”

“To be a woman in digital media is the same as it is to be any woman who is public-facing at all”, says Donner, “It is a constant high-wire act.”