[bestbits] The attack on APC, IGF and UN

Sun Oct 11 05:29:28 EDT 2015

I am posting this separately to a few lists, so apologies if you are already aware of this. 

For those who have not caught up on this weekend's vicious attack on APC and Take Back the Tech.

I'd particularly encourage you to read the reddit link, and see how a distorted campaign has been mounted in the name of freedom of speech on such a low factual base. What's more, a set of people who were planning to discuss this subject - and who are already victims of cyber-bullying - have been aggressively cyber-bullied and exposed to some very poor taste material.

On Twitter, the hashtag mostly under attack is #takebackthetech - a long standing APC campaign. This hashtag and #imagineafeministinternet hVE virtually been taken over by #gamergate followers. 

I don't know how we can counter such attacks; nor do i know how you get a factual basis to these discussions when those mounting the attack want a distorted situation.

This is quite a worrying development that now has spread from APC to an attack where IGF and UN are being accused of opposing freedom of speech.

I would love to know a good way to address this. But in the meantime, I think people should be aware of this.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Ian Peter 
Sent: Sunday, October 11, 2015 6:57 PM 
To: Michael Gurstein ; 'Internet governance related discussions' ; ciresearchers at vcn.bc.ca 
Subject: Re: [JNC - Forum] : [Air-L] #gamergate trolling attack going on nowagainst a feminist tech movement 

So this attack is still ongoing, and being done in the name of "freedom from 
censorship". And the devil has become the IGF and the UN!

It's astonishing how well organised it is on a distorted information 
base -see the link below.

https://www.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAction/comments/3oa04u/goal_op_take_back_the_truth_phase_ii_the_apc_has/

-----Original Message----- 
From: Jac sm Kee
Sent: Saturday, October 10, 2015 11:41 PM
To: Michael Gurstein ; 'Internet governance related discussions' ; 
ciresearchers at vcn.bc.ca
Subject: Re: [JNC - Forum] : [Air-L] #gamergate trolling attack going on now 
against a feminist tech movement

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Hi Michael,

Thanks for the support. I think there are a couple of things that can
be done:

a) Reposting the statement in your sites to demonstrate support to the
work, and condemning the attacks
b) Also post something that explains the open, transparent,
multistakeholder and participatory nature of IGF, and related work
including intersessionals. The trolls seem to be really confused about
what IGF is about, and see this as an "evil UN scheme" to control the
internet. Which is quite funny. They celebrate it as a victory to be
able to join a BPF meeting and access archives of documented
discussion. Very strange, but maybe some information and clarification
from the IGF community can help.

If you have more ideas, happy to hear them.

Best,
jac

- ---------------------------------
Jac sm Kee
Manager, Women's Rights Programme
Association for Progressive Communications
www.apc.org | www.takebackthetech.net | erotics.apc.org
Jitsi: jacsmk | Skype: jacsmk | Twitter: @jhybe

On 10/10/2015 05:46, Michael Gurstein wrote:
> Thanks for this below Anriette/Jac...
>
> I came across the original message on a list for "Internet
> researchers" where it is being discussed along with associated
> attacks under the overall rubric of #gamergate referring to a quite
> serious troll attack focusing on an online discussion concerned
> with the lack of gender responsive actions and outputs among gamers
> and game developers.
>
> Apart from actually participating in the troll attack (difficult if
> one has no real idea of what is going on) is there anything useful
> that sympathetic observers can do at this point.
>
> M
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Forum
> [mailto:forum-bounces at justnetcoalition.org] On Behalf Of Anriette
> Esterhuysen Sent: October 9, 2015 1:39 PM To: Internet governance
> related discussions <forum at justnetcoalition.org>;
> ciresearchers at vcn.bc.ca; Jac sm Kee <jac at apcwomen.org> Subject: Re:
> [JNC - Forum] ?spam FW: [Air-L] #gamergate trolling attack going on
> now against a feminist tech movement
>
> Dear JNC and CI researchers
>
> Aside from this attack being cited as an interesting subject for
> research, you might also want to take action.
>
> We would also appreciate support.  Hashtag #takebackthetech
>
> Please find below a statement from APC on the attack.
>
> Anriette Esterhuysen, APC
>
> Take Action for #TakeBackTheTech and ImagineAFeministInternet
>
> Today, Friday the 9th of October 2015, misoynists, trolls and a
> variety of people who associate with the #Gamergate hashtag decided
> to occupy and corrupt the #TakeBackTheTech and
> #ImagineAFeministInternet hashtags by posting thousands of
> anti-feminist and misogynistic tweets and memes. This attack is the
> response to a tweet chat organised by the Internet Governance
> Forum, Best Practice Forum on Countering Online Violence and Abuse,
> to discuss the impact of such violence. The volunteer who was
> organising the tweet chat also received an email in her personal
> inbox declaring the launch of the attack to “destroy” the
> campaign.This online attack against feminist activism online is
> deliberate, planned, and coordinated and it’s only one example of
> the attack that feminists face online.
>
> Take Back the Tech! is a collaborative campaign to reclaim
> technology to prevent violence against women. It started in 2006
> and works with local partners to run campaigns online and offline
> to raise awareness of technology-related violence against women and
> girls, promote digital safety and amplify women’s voices online.As
> a hashtag, #TakeBackTheTech has been used by activists to draw
> attention to issues of online violence against women, and to
> organise around periods like ‘Sixteen Days of Activism against
> Gender Based Violence’. #ImagineAFeministInternet first came into
> use in 2013 when the Association for Progressive Communications
> convened a gathering of over 50 activists in Malaysia to discuss
> what a Feminist Internet would look like - open, digitally secure,
> safer for feminist activists. Increasingly
> #ImagineAFeministInternet has become more popular as digitally
> connected feminists have come together to conceptualise what a
> safe, activist online space would look like.
>
> Today’s cyber attack by the trolls emphasise that more than ever
> feminists and activists need to respond swiftly to online violence.
> Our organisations, movements and allies need to support the digital
> security of women’s rights defenders online. More than ever we need
> to #TakeBackTheTech and #ImagineAFeministInternet. As individual
> activists and members of various social justice activists we call
> on you to do the following:
>
> Report abusive accounts to Twitter If you feel so inclined, create
> alternative accounts to push back against the trolls Reclaim the
> #TakeBackTheTech and #ImagineAFeministInternet hashtags Support the
> process of documenting instances of online violence against women
> Highlight the importance of feminism, technology and women's rights
> online Share knowledge of how to end online violence against women
> Support #TakeBackTheTech and our efforts to
> #ImagineAFeministInternet
>
> Enquiries
>
> Jac Sm Kee Women's Rights Programme Manager, Association for
> Progressive Communications Email: jac at apcwomen.org
>
> On 09/10/2015 22:12, Michael Gurstein wrote:
>> Interesting roiling in the twittersphere around APC led tech and
>>  feminism campaign.
>>
>> M
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From: Air-L
>> [mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Zara
>> Rahman Sent: October 9, 2015 8:44 AM To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
>> Subject: [Air-L] #gamergate trolling attack going on now against
>> a feminist tech movement
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I thought this might be of interest for those of you studying
>> trolling: there is a (seemingly well-coordinated) Gamergate going
>> on right now against those using the hashtag #takebackthetech and
>> (to a lesser extent) #imagineafeministinternet.
>>
>> Both of these hashtags started with the feminist organisation
>> APC, and they were/are planning an online twitter discussion
>> tonight on the impact of onlnie violence against women - but
>> Gamergate trolls seem to have picked up on it in advance.
>>
>> The community is organising at the moment on how to respond, but
>> if you're interested in following/studying/archiving the attack -
>> head to #takebackthetech
>> <https://twitter.com/hashtag/TakeBackTheTech?src=hash>.
>>
>> For reference: https://www.takebackthetech.net/
>> https://www.apc.org/en/about/programmes/womens-networking-support-pro
g
>>
>>
ramme-
>> apc-wnsp
>>
>> Thanks - if you end up working on this topic further, please let
>> me know! And, perhaps this goes without saying but please don't
>> @/tag me or others in your responses if you choose to respond on
>> Twitter. The organisers of the twitter chat have already received
>> abusive twitter and email messages.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Zara
>>
>> -- Zara Rahman Fellow at Centre for Internet and Human Rights
>> http://zararah.net | Twitter: @zararah
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________ The
>> Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the
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>> change options or unsubscribe at:
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>>
>> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
>> http://www.aoir.org/
>>
>> _______________________________________________ Forum mailing
>> list Forum at justnetcoalition.org
>> http://mail.justnetcoalition.org/listinfo/forum
>>
>
> -- ----------------------------------------- Anriette Esterhuysen
> Executive Director Association for Progressive Communications
> anriette at apc.org www.apc.org IM: ae_apc
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