Online platforms have tried to combat harassment against women, but it’s not working
Mar 8, 2021 1:14 PM PHT
Katia Patin
Last June the gaming industry had a moment of reckoning. Starting as a trickle, female and non-binary online gamers and streamers began posting stories of online and offline harassment by men, a problem they said was rife across the industry.
Accusations of misogynistic comments, threats of rape, revenge porn and doxxing spread to other social media platforms, not just the ones centered on gaming. From YouTube to Twitter and Reddit, big-name content creators – almost exclusively male – were getting away with creating online worlds that amplified the harassment women have fought for decades to eradicate from their workplace.
According to Reuters, at least a dozen apps cloning Clubhouse’s functionality have launched in China since, though generally with the expectation that they will employ more stringent moderation techniques to ensure users don’t buck the party line.
You know Nyan Cat? The legendary GIF, which depicts a gray feline with the body of a Pop-Tart soaring through space (and leaving a rainbow-colored chemtrail), recently sold for $590,000 in an online auction put on by the meme’s original creator. No, GIFs that anyone can find and share for free usually aren’t considered commodities, and yes, this has something to do with the latest crypto-related trend you might have heard of: NFTs. Also hopping on the NFT, or non-fungible token, craze in recent weeks: Lindsay Lohan. Mark Cuban. The band Kings of Leon, which is releasing a new album not in the usual manner but as an NFT. The experimental pop singer Grimes made headlines earlier this week when she made about $6 million selling artwork, much of which featured flying babies, that came in the form of NFTs.
, a Future Tense column about the internet’s information ecosystem.
In February, Molly White, age 27, received yet another creepy message: “We have three people who are going to be taking a tour [of your apartment] and looking at it, but you will not know who they are because we wont disclose that ahead of time, just know that when they do they will be wearing a hidden camera and we will be sharing the deets.” For White, the threat was one more example of the harassment she has received because she is one of Wikipedia’s most prolific female contributors.