WEBVTT - What is the ‘Internet Hate Machine?’ 0:00:00.640 --> 0:00:02.400 My name is bridget Todd, and I am here with 0:00:02.400 --> 0:00:06.720 my producer, Sophie Hey bridget Hey listeners, so you might 0:00:06.760 --> 0:00:09.120 already know me from my podcast There are No Girls 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:11.760 on the Internet, And as you can probably tell from 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:16.560 that title, I make podcasts about the Internet, specifically how 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:21.560 people who are traditionally marginalized, so women, black folks, queer folks, 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:24.720 trans folks, sex workers, low income folks and the like, 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:27.280 have shaped what it means to be on the Internet. 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:29.760 And I do that because I know that making sure 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:33.640 the contributions of these communities are in the spotlight takes intention. 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:37.479 It's already really easy for these communities and their voices 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:40.559 to be overlooked unless we make a real point to 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:43.080 do so. So it's already hard enough to make sure 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:46.440 the experiences of marginalized people are not overlooked. But when 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:49.120 you add in the ephemeral nature of the Internet, it 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:52.520 becomes even less likely that these voices and their contributions 0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:57.600 and experiences will be chronicled. The Internet moves quickly, tweets 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:01.160 are scrubbed, websites come down. Who will remember what happens 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:03.600 online if we don't do the work of archiving it 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:06.760 and building monuments to it. So that's what I've been doing, 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:08.800 and I've gotten to do a lot of that work 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:11.840 about some of the ways that brilliant, marginalized people have 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:15.160 been using the Internet to make culture and art and movements, 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:18.920 and it has been so inspiring. But I am sad 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:21.160 to say that as true as it is that traditionally 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:24.960 marginalized people are doing really cool ship online, it is 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:27.440 also true that those same people are the ones who 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:31.119 are being targeted online in really scary and infuriating ways. 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:33.640 And when it happens, it can feel like it just 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:36.840 goes overlooked. You know, we don't really get the opportunity 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:39.039 to learn from it or take anything away from it, 0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:43.399 and as the Internet does, everyone just kind of moves on. 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:46.880 And you know what, I don't like that. So on 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:50.600 this podcast, Internet Hate Machine, I'm trying to right that wrong. 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:54.080 We'll be telling the stories of women who were harassed online, 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:56.880 how it happened, why it happened, and what it all 0:01:56.880 --> 0:01:59.480 means for the rest of us, because I think there 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:03.800 is this real misconception about online harassment that it is individual. 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:06.760 You know, when you see someone being harassed on the internet, 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:09.919 people think, wow, I wonder what she did to be 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:12.600 deserving of that kind of treatment, or they might think 0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:15.840 I am glad I am not her. But the truth is, 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:20.520 harassment online isn't just individual. It's systemic, and it's institutional, 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:23.600 and even if we specifically are not the ones on 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:26.200 the receiving end of it, it still has really big 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:29.680 implications for all of us. The first time that I 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:31.600 really saw this play out on build time was with 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:35.400 former Saturday Night Live comedian Leslie Jones, and her story, 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:37.040 which is one of the stories that we will talk 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:40.560 about in depth this season, is one that really opened 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:43.320 my eyes. So, Sophie, do you remember Leslie Jones? Do 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:46.280 you know what happened with her? Yeah? Leslie jen is 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:50.640 one of the best performers on SNL and all time 0:02:50.680 --> 0:02:55.320 great really just one of the funniest people ever who 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:59.440 was kind of at the time, somebody who seemed to 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:05.080 really have Twitter comedy down and was very much loved 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:11.640 universally get absolutely harassed by the Internet, specifically by one 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:16.400 guy who I recall saying it stuck with me, saying 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:20.880 that trolling was important and that with like no remorse 0:03:20.960 --> 0:03:25.600 for the the things that he did, and I'm sure 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:29.600 it continues to do to two people to this day, 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:32.520 I want to tell me more, Well, absolutely, you are 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:35.960 entirely correct. So in all of my research on the 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:38.520 way that online harassment works, I've seen time and time 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:42.040 again that Milo Napolis, former tech editor at right bart 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:45.720 News and right Wing ship Head, really ushered in that 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:49.600 wave of trolling being seen as a form of activism 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:53.280 in and of itself. Milo Unapolis represents the tip of 0:03:53.320 --> 0:03:56.280 the iceberg in a rising tide of hate and abuse 0:03:56.320 --> 0:03:59.880 in social media when he clearly sees as a noble 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:03.640 appropriate trolling is very important. Trolling is absolutely essential. America 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:05.560 needs more trolling because trolls so the the only people who 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:10.840 tell the truth these days. Many joined him on this crusade. Mr. 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:16.200 Trolling is important in himself my cool and so he 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:20.640 really ushered that in as like a vibe where people 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:23.760 who were trolling in this way saw it as a 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:25.479 form of activism and saw it as a way to 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:29.680 reclaim and build political and social power online and cultural 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:33.080 power online. And so Leslie Jones, I completely agree with you. 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:36.159 She was all time great on Saturday Night Live, and 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:38.680 she was one of those sort of early celebrities who 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:42.160 was good at Twitter. You know that that brand of celebrity. 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:45.200 She was known for live tweeting things like the Olympics 0:04:45.279 --> 0:04:47.880 or other big events, and everyone loved her right like 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:52.040 she was be loved on Twitter. Her tweets live tweeting 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:56.240 events would be you know, chronicled in those BuzzFeed list 0:04:56.279 --> 0:05:00.000 of calls Michael thirty of Leslie Jones best tweets abou 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:01.840 the Olympics, things like that. It was very of a 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:03.520 of an era, I guess I'll put it that way. 0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:06.920 And so her tweeting, her use of the platform Twitter 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:10.880 really got great press for Twitter as a platform, right Like, 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:14.200 so many articles were spotlighting the way that she had 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:18.520 really used the platform to create her brand. You know, 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:22.840 she was like winning Twitter. And I feel like at 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:26.720 the time, Twitter wasn't having as much of a moment 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:30.720 as some of the other social media apps, and the 0:05:30.760 --> 0:05:35.200 content and discourse happening on Twitter was really able to 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:39.280 breathe new life into a Internet staple that was kind 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:43.880 of fading behind some of these other popular social media platforms. 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:47.920 Completely agree, and I would also side note. I would 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:51.400 also add that Twitter would not be what it is 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:54.160 if it was not for the labor and creativity and 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:57.520 time of black folks showing up on the platform, right, 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:00.080 and so that is just Twitter. It was a huge it. 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:03.120 I mean, if there wasn't black Twitter, and Twitter would 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:06.839 be so boring a thousand percent. And you know, I 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:09.120 think that's one of the things that makes stories like 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:14.120 Leslie so infuriating is that platforms owe a huge financial 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:17.719 debt to black women and black folks showing up on 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:20.159 their platform and making it someplace people want to be. 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:24.200 And so then to turn around in not really take 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:27.920 it seriously when those same voices are threatened and harassed 0:06:27.960 --> 0:06:31.320 and abused on their platform is a real problem for me. 0:06:31.360 --> 0:06:33.800 It really illustrates a disconnect that I think that tech 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:37.839 leaders have where they are not actually making policies that 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:41.440 keep the people that make their platforms great, They're actually 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:44.200 not making policies that then allow for those people to 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:47.120 show up safely on their platforms. And so Leslie Jones, 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:50.279 when she was cast in the all female reboot of Ghostbusters, 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:55.520 was the target of a really nasty harassment campaign by Milo, 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:59.360 and it got so bad that eventually she left the platform. 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:02.880 Um after she left, Jack Dorsey, the n CEO of Twitter, 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:06.839 personally intervened. He kicked Milo off the platform and welcomed 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:10.520 her back, which you know, that's great. I'm glad that 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.080 that he did that. But I don't think that you 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:15.520 should have to be a celebrity with those kinds of 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:18.160 connections in order to get a platform like Twitter to 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:21.040 take it seriously when you're being harassed in this way. 0:07:21.320 --> 0:07:23.840 As you might know, Milo got his start at bright 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:26.560 Bart News, which was co founded by Steve Bannon. So 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:30.160 watching all of this unfold, watching Steve Bannon, this person 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:33.880 who empowered and emboldened Milo, who would go on to 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:38.440 target Leslie Jones for this racist, sexist hate campaign online, 0:07:38.760 --> 0:07:40.840 you know, just for being a comedian who didn't do 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:43.360 anything except for be a black woman taking up space 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:47.160 on the internet. Watching the person who enabled this become 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:51.960 a White House advisor to former President Trump deeply, deeply 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:56.120 upset me. I would imagine that that kind of behavior 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:59.840 would make you unfit for public life, not rewarded with 0:07:59.880 --> 0:08:04.680 a powerful, influential White House position. And so watching this, 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:08.760 it was this wild convergence of culture and the Internet 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:12.560 and social media and political power, and I thought, this 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:16.560 means something. Certainly, this means something. And the thing was, 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:19.600 we didn't really talk about it. You know, Milo got 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:22.800 kicked off Twitter, Leslie Jones came back to Twitter, Steve 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:24.960 Bannon went to the White House and then exited the 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:28.240 White House, and everybody, as we do on the Internet, 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:31.680 just kind of moved on like it was just a footnote. 0:08:32.120 --> 0:08:35.800 And I remember watching this interview time and suddenly this 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:38.800 thing that I had always felt existing as a black 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:41.480 woman on the Internet but could never really name or 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:45.640 put my finger on, suddenly that came into much sharper focus, 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:50.000 the harassment and abuse of women, specifically black women on 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:52.480 the Internet. I saw it as being at the heart 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:56.120 of our politics, our discourse, and being baked into the 0:08:56.160 --> 0:08:59.680 experience of our social media platforms. I realized, it's not 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:02.400 above ug, It's a feature, and it's a feature that 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:11.720 we don't even really talk openly about. So there are 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:13.920 a couple of reasons I think that I could always 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:16.520 feel this but can never really put a name on it. 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:19.520 One is the nature of the Internet itself. You know, 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:22.240 things move quickly on the Internet, and there's not exactly 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:25.839 room or time for things like moratoriums or look backs 0:09:26.120 --> 0:09:28.640 to really take an accounting of what happened and why. 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:32.000 When something happens online, we all just kind of move 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:34.520 on and forget about it. It creates a situation where 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:37.400 things can happen again and again and again and again. 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:42.000 Two is just good old fashion racism and sexism. In 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:45.280 nineteen sixty four, Malcolm X wrote, the most disrespected person 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:48.200 in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:51.000 in America is the black woman. The most neglected person 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:53.920 in America is the black woman. And the experiences that 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:56.760 we have online as black women, and the way people 0:09:56.840 --> 0:09:59.920 respond to them or don't respond to them, really show 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:02.199 was that Malcolm X knew what he was talking about 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:05.400 way back when in nineteen four. I've spent most of 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:08.319 my career doing research into the ways that marginalized people 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:10.800 show up on the Internet and social media, and the 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:15.160 research is super clear that black women are disproportionately targeted 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:19.120 for things like online harassment, online abuse, threats, and disinformation online. 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:23.320 You know, I take no pleasure in saying this, but 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:26.439 it is the truth. Nobody, and by nobody, I mean 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:30.200 nobody with power really cares about black women like that. 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:33.360 When harm happens to black women, it is just overlooked. 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:36.200 This is not just true on the internet, It's also 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:38.840 true in the real world too, and it feeds into 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:42.200 the problem because bad actors, people out there who want 0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:45.040 to cause harm to others, they know this. They know 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:48.040 that they can target black women, test out and refine 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:50.880 and perfect their tactics on black women, and that those 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:54.440 women do speak up, nobody with power will really listen 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:58.080 or take it seriously. We've seen this play out time 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:00.960 and time again. For instance, at think most people who 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:03.400 are online have heard of gamer Gate. So if they 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:06.800 have you heard of this unfortunately? Yes? And if you 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:12.080 have it, brave, we are jealous. Yes, if you haven't 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:14.640 heard of gamer Gate, I want your life. I wish 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:16.960 I could have a life that resembles yours. But I 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:19.160 would say that most people on the Internet or who 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:21.400 were on the Internet around the time that happened, are 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:23.920 familiar with it. So for folks who don't know what 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:26.720 that is, it was a time where mostly men online 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:31.320 horribly harassed mostly women online under the guys of being 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:35.520 big mad about ethics in gaming journalism, and it got 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:37.839 lots of attention, lots of press. You know, I think 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:40.160 most people can probably remember it, But how many of 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:42.520 those same people know that the same folks responsible for 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:45.880 gamer Gate, for using those exact same tactics on black 0:11:45.920 --> 0:11:49.480 women years before gamer Gate, women like age Vr Richards, 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:52.840 who was targeted for racist haraspment online after she tweeted 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:56.200 about not really liking a crass joke that she overheard 0:11:56.280 --> 0:11:59.000 about dongles while she was at a work event. She 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:01.920 was horribly harassed and it was something that I think 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:04.760 that people might not even remember. You know. I did 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:08.640 an interview with this researcher, Sharine Mitchell, and during our interview, 0:12:08.760 --> 0:12:12.240 she was, like, most people know about gamer Gate, nobody 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:15.559 talks about dongle gay. Here's a bit of my conversation 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:18.760 with researcher Sharine Mitchell. So I want to talk a bit. 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:22.240 You mentioned this like preparing women and girls for this 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:24.000 moment that we're in. Now. I want to talk about 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:27.400 that moment, particularly as it pertains to things like disinformation. 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:31.960 How are you seeing disinformation impact women online, specifically black 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:33.520 women and women of color. How are you seeing a 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:36.680 play out? Yes? Absolutely, you and I know about women 0:12:36.800 --> 0:12:43.040 like Shafika Hussin and Anissa Crockett who basically helped to identify, 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:46.000 you know, fake accounts pretending to be black women. Now, 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:48.080 I was also looking at that as well as looking 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:49.640 at dongle Gate, and so I want to make sure 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:53.000 I mark donagle Gate here because when people started worrying 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:55.280 about on harassment, they started worrying about it when it 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:57.400 was gamer Gate, and the media got hold of it 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:01.440 before gamer Gate was dongle Gay. So I followed the 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:04.760 whole storyline about this black woman m who I happened 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:07.040 to know, who was speaking up about sexism in the 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:11.800 tech industry, and she had coordinated attacks against her. That 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:14.560 was the first moment after our first survey that I 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:18.160 realized that not only would coordinate attacks happen, but people 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:21.680 would defend those who are attacking her, including people who 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:25.520 write books about her and basically say that she was 0:13:25.600 --> 0:13:30.559 the most egregious in her behavior, that calling out sexism 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:34.319 and racism was egregious, And I was like, uncle gay, 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:36.640 what was she talking about? And even me, as somebody 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:40.040 who is like pretty online, I had forgotten that I 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:43.920 had witnessed that go down, and I didn't even contextualize 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:47.520 it within a larger context of the conversation of online harassment. 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:50.600 I had completely compartmentalized it. And so I think it 0:13:50.679 --> 0:13:53.960 really shows that even people who spend a lot of 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:56.280 time on the Internet or talk about the Internet might 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:59.840 not always be able to see what's happening when the targets, 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:02.720 the people at the center of these situations are black women. 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:05.920 I mean, even when you pitched the show to the 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:09.319 Cool Zone team, doncle gate was one of the first 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:12.199 topic ideas you had, and I was like, oh, doncle gate, 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:15.439 And I think maybe one other person on our team 0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:18.160 knew what that was. And I would say that, you know, 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:20.960 the Cool Zone media team are are people who are 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:24.720 highly online and and and should know about this, and 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:28.200 yet it's just another thing that we've overlooked in this 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:34.960 systemic issue exactly. And I think it feeds into how 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:39.240 bad the issue is because you know, tech reporters and 0:14:39.240 --> 0:14:42.040 folks at places like Wired, I really like a lot 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:44.760 of their journalism. But frankly, a lot of those, a 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:47.880 lot of the people making content about the Internet just 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:50.680 don't necessarily have the range to really get into the 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:54.360 nitty gritty of the intersection of race and gender and 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:58.640 identity that you would need to really fully account for 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:01.240 what happened in these stories. I just think people don't 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:03.480 have the range. If you've an incredibly white newsroom or 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:06.600 an incredibly white team, it might be difficult to really 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:10.000 get into the intersections and the complexities of how these 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:13.000 issues actually do play out, and so they go overlooked 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:15.200 and we're not really able to learn from them, or 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:18.160 prepare for them, or take much away from them. Another 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:22.920 good example would be Shafika Hudson, who in actually reported 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:26.239 and called out bad actors using fake accounts to impersonate 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:29.800 black women to destabilize Internet communities. The women who were 0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:32.480 at the heart of that being targeted, they spoke up, 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:35.440 they reported these things to Twitter, and they were basically ignored. 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:37.640 So why didn't I get the same amount of coverage 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:40.960 or recognition as something like gamer Gate? And if it had, 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:44.560 maybe somebody with power might have listened and taken it seriously. 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:48.000 And I think maybe things would be different now, you know, 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:50.800 For one, gamer Gate might have gone down a little 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:53.920 bit differently. Or consider the fact that six years after 0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:57.240 Shafika Hudson was reporting people impersonating black folks on Twitter 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:01.400 to cause chaos, white supremacist groups used that very same 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:05.120 tactic during the racial justice uprisings of to make it 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:07.880 seem as though black activists were calling for people to 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:11.400 loot homes and cause violence on the street. Twitter confirmed this. 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:14.920 Twitter confirmed that white supremacist groups were impersonating black people 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:18.240 on Twitter. They did not, though, explain why, if they 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:21.080 knew this was a tactic years earlier that was being 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:24.280 used to destabilize their platforms, why they did fuck all 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:26.600 to prevent it and did nothing to prevent it from 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:29.640 happening at a larger scale down the line and zooming 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:32.200 out even further. These tactics went on to be the 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:34.920 very same tactics that bad actors used to try to 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:38.640 destabilize our elections and democracy. A Senate inquiry confirmed in 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:41.960 twenty nine that that same tactic and personating black people 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:44.520 on social media was used by Russian assets in an 0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:48.440 attempt to spread distrust during the election, posing as Black 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:51.800 Lives Matter activists or like black groups on social media accounts. 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:54.920 Online bad actors tried to inflame anger around things like 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:57.880 police brutality in the lead up to the election, and 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:01.760 the inquiry found that no group was targeted more than 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:04.760 black folks online, and they were trying to use drumming 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:07.320 up all of this this chaos and anger as a 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:09.320 means of either getting black folks to vote for Donald 0:17:09.359 --> 0:17:12.840 Trump or did to stay home on election Day And again, 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:17.840 had someone with power actually listened when these black women 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:22.280 years prior we're speaking up about what they experienced, maybe 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:26.119 things would be different, but they were ignored. I think 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:28.679 that not listening to Black women when we speak up 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:32.720 about our experiences online has big consequences, not just for 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:34.920 the women who are targeted, but for all of us, 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:38.399 because when usoom out even further, we're seeing tried and 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:41.800 true tactics of online harassment become an animating feature in 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:46.000 our political landscape and discourse. And what's worse, it's becoming normalized. 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:49.480 You know, Black women are sometimes called the canaries and 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:52.720 the coal mine for online harms. First it happens to us, 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:55.639 and then it happens to everyone, and bad actors use 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:58.120 the same harassment tactics that they were able to perfect 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:01.159 on Black women on others. And I would argue that 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:04.280 have people with power, you know, leadership at tech companies, 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:08.080 policymakers and elected officials. Had they actually listened when black 0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:10.119 women were being targeted by this kind of thing and 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:12.720 they spoke up about what they were experiencing, we might 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:16.720 not be in our current political situation, which frankly I 0:18:16.720 --> 0:18:19.960 can only describe as a health scape. There. I mean 0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:23.440 think about it. The Internet has been completely weaponized. It's 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:26.320 near impossible to have any kind of meaningful discourse about 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:29.800 any kind of real topic on our largest communication platforms 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:32.840 because the leaders who run those platforms have built them 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:37.120 to incentivize and amplify lies, garbage, and grits were more 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:40.840 polarized than ever, and the grifters are basically running the show. 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:43.040 And the reason I want to talk about this right 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:45.240 now is that we're going into a midterm election where 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:47.600 we're seeing historic numbers of women and women of color 0:18:47.720 --> 0:18:50.840 running for local office. But the sad reality is at 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:53.720 this point, serving your community by running for office also 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:56.240 means opening you and your family up to being attacked 0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:59.280 and harassed online in ways that male candidates just do 0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:02.040 not have to worry about. I mean women like Congresswoman 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:04.440 Jaia Paul, where a man went from sending her angry, 0:19:04.440 --> 0:19:06.800 threatening emails to showing up outside of her house with 0:19:06.840 --> 0:19:09.879 a gun. Because we know these threats may start online, 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:12.960 but they do not always stay online. This climate creates 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:15.840 a barrier for women, whether they're running for office or 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:19.120 serving their communities by working as election workers or poll workers. 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:22.920 We have a national shortage of election workers heading into 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:25.520 an election, because who would want to do any of 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:27.679 that if it means they're opening themselves and their family 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:30.639 up to threats, intimidation and harassment. You know, if you 0:19:30.640 --> 0:19:33.600 watch the January six hearing, you probably remember the way 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:36.440 that two black poll workers, Shay and Ruby Freemen, were 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:41.480 personally attacked by Trump and Rudy Giuliani, who baselessly, publicly 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:44.439 and repeatedly accused these women of tampering with votes in 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:48.080 the election, until angry people descended on the home of 0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:50.960 their elderly grandmother and they had to flee for their 0:19:50.960 --> 0:19:54.800 own safety. And these are just everyday women. It's not 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:57.840 like they had a security detail. The whole point is 0:19:57.880 --> 0:20:00.199 to silence women and to keep us from participating in 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:03.399 civic and public life, to create such a high cost 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:06.040 to doing so that it just isn't worth it. And 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:09.119 we haven't really had a real examination of how the 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:12.600 harassment of marginalized people online is a big part of 0:20:12.640 --> 0:20:15.560 how we got here. So why not do that now. 0:20:16.200 --> 0:20:18.359 Let's not just move on from it, as I know 0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:20.760 that we're so apt to do on the Internet. Let's 0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:23.680 examine it so we can learn from it. So on 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:26.560 this season of Internet hate Machine we'll be exploring how 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:29.320 online violence and harassment has led us to this political 0:20:29.359 --> 0:20:32.400 and social moment that we're in, and don't worry, we'll 0:20:32.440 --> 0:20:34.919 also be diving into what can be done about it. 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:37.840 And I know it's gonna be a wild ride, but 0:20:37.960 --> 0:20:39.840 I hope that all of y'all are down to take 0:20:39.880 --> 0:20:45.520 this ride with me. Internet Hate Machine is a production 0:20:45.520 --> 0:20:48.440 of cool Zone Media. More podcasts from cool Zone Media, 0:20:48.520 --> 0:20:51.119 check out our website cool zone media dot com, or 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:53.639 find us on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:55.359 or wherever you get your podcasts.