Digital Safety Self-Defense: An Anti-hacking Anti-doxing Workshop

Recording: Digital Security Skidmore Speaks

Wednesday, October 28, 2020
3 - 4:15 pm

If you use social media to express yourself and advocate on behalf of people and issues you care about, you may experience or witness online abuse. Folks who identify as women, LGBTQIA+, and/or BIPOC are disproportionately targeted. But there are concrete steps you can take to protect yourself from abusive tactics such as impersonation. hacking, and doxing (publishing of private info). Grab your devices and join PEN America and Freedom of the Press Foundation for this interactive workshop where we’ll teach you how to audit your social media accounts, tighten your privacy settings, and track your personal information online so you can stay safer while speaking out.

PEN America + Freedom of the Press Foundation Journalists expected to maintain an online presence and engage on social media—particularly those who identify as women, LGBTQIA+, and/or BIPOC—are increasingly facing online abuse, from impersonation and hacking to doxing (publishing private info). Bring your devices and join this hands-on workshop to learn how to outsmart the trolls by auditing your social media accounts, tightening your privacy settings, and tracking down your personal info so you can maintain the public profile you need to do your job.

Harlo Holmes is the director of digital security at Freedom of the Press Foundation. She strives to help individual journalists in various media organizations become confident and effective in securing their communications within their newsrooms, with their sources, and with the public at large.

Viktorya Vilk is the program director for digital safety and free expression at PEN America, where she leads initiatives on a range of free expression issues, including developing tools and strategies to empower journalists and newsrooms to defend against online abuse. She has over a decade of experience working in nonprofits to expand access to the arts and defend creative and press freedom.

Additional Resources: to help protect yourself and navigate online abuse:

• PEN America’sOnline Harassment Field Manual: with an explanation of whatonline abuse is and sections on how toprepare,respond, practiceself-care, and offersupport.
• Why You Should Dox Yourself (Sort Of)written by PEN America for Slate
• What To Do If You're The Target Of Online Harassmentwritten by PEN America for Slate & HBR.
• HeartMob, by Hollaback! 
• OnlineSoS