[bestbits] The attack on APC, IGF and UN

[David Sullivan]

Hey all,

One of the reasons I decided to write up a post and risk feeding the trolls
on this issue was the positive attention that the trollers have been
receiving from conservative/libertarian media here in the US. Examples
include:

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/10/09/internet-governance-forum-plans-new-anti-cyberviolence-push/
http://dailycaller.com/2015/10/09/the-un-cant-solve-world-hunger-but-it-thinks-it-can-end-cyberviolence/
https://reason.com/archives/2015/10/13/un-cyber-violence-report


I tend to agree with the view that arguing with trolls on twitter is
fruitless. But I do think that libertarian-oriented individuals and
organizations working on internet governance should consider repudiating
this misguided campaign.

Best,
David

On Wed, Oct 14, 2015 at 4:31 PM, Ian Peter <ian.peter at ianpeter.com> wrote:

> You are probably right Lee, the best thing might be to let them carry on
> (they still are six or so days later).
>
> But I do wonder what happens if they begin to think their bully boy
> tactics are successful, and they can then go invade as many other spaces as
> they like.
>
> Alternatives would be
>
> continuing acts of passive resistance (some of us have been engaging in
> occasional postings trying to correct the record)
>
> a large campaign (woudnt be hard to organise) of several thousand
> simultaneous postings supporting #takebackthetech
>
> Just brainstorming here.
>
> BTW the best post yesterday from one of their leaders had the APC and IGF
> responsible for and supporting Saudi Arabian bids for positions on UN
> bodies. Retweeted all over the place. Very little thinking or analysis
> going on here and lots of misinformation. Perhaps the best thing is to just
> let them play with themselves which might be something they are quite
> experienced at doing.
>
> But I have to say I am angry (and sad) that this misinformed attack is
> going on and so many young people are just following with seemingly no
> capacity to analyse inputs.  And that people doing good work are under
> attack.  Those more directly affected might not find it easy to shake this
> off and maybe we need to show them they have strong support in some way?
>
>
> Ian
>
> *From:* Lee W McKnight <lmcknigh at syr.edu>
> *Sent:* Monday, October 12, 2015 1:21 PM
> *To:* bestbits at lists.bestbits.net ; Ian Peter <ian.peter at ianpeter.com>
> *Cc:* anriette at apc.org
> *Subject:* Re: [bestbits] The attack on APC, IGF and UN
>
>
> Ian, Anriette, friends,
>
>
> My 2 cents:
>
>
>
> As they say in Hollywood, there is no such thing as bad publicity : ) - as
> long as they spell your name right.
>
>
> Seriously, it would not be hard to turn this into a free media PR and
> education campaign for IGF, APC for...
>
>
> 'Take Back the Tech2.0.' If they follow, fine, move to 2.1.
>
>
> '#imagineafeministopeninternet' etc
>
>
> Meaning, let the loser gamergate crowd have the original twitter hashtags.
> Just tweak slightly and move the campaigns to 2.0 tags. They can keep
> talking to themselves, who cares?
>
>
> This could be made into a mainstream media story, like the many ones about
> the gamergate losers trolling women in Silicon Valley tech firms some
> months back.
>
>
>
> And, therefore, also a chance to educate more folks about what the IGF is,
> and why it matters, but it is actually laughably dumb for the gamergate
> losers to think IGF could ever 'take over' anything.
>
>
>
> Lee
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net <
> bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net> on behalf of Ian Peter <
> ian.peter at ianpeter.com>
> *Sent:* Sunday, October 11, 2015 5:29 AM
> *To:* bestbits at lists.bestbits.net
> *Subject:* [bestbits] The attack on APC, IGF and UN
>
> 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
> >> Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe,
> >> change options or unsubscribe at:
> >> http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
> >>
> >> 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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