PEN America LGBTQ+ Digital Safety Bootcamp – Session #3

Hands-On Anti-Hacking, Anti-Doxing Workshop

LGBTQ+ writers, journalists, creators, and activists are increasingly expected to have an online presence and engage on social media, which puts them at risk of abuse. From impersonation and hacking to doxing, abusive trolls join forces to intimidate, discredit, and silence. But there are concrete steps you can take to protect yourself. With your devices in hand, join us for this hands-on workshop where we’ll teach you how to outsmart the trolls. Learn how to audit your social media accounts, tighten your privacy settings, and track your personal information online so you can maintain the public profile you need to do your job.

Speakers

Viktorya Vilk (she/her/hers) 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 writers, journalists, and media organizations 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.

Harlo Holmes (she/her/hers) 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.

 

About the PEN America Fall Bootcamp on LGBTQ+ Digital Safety

Online abuse can threaten livelihoods, damage mental health, lead to self-censorship, and even migrate offline. Members of the LGBTQ+ community are disproportionately targeted. According to a 2021 ADL/YouGov study, 64 percent of LGBTQ+ people experience online hate and harassment. From hateful slurs and sexual harassment to impersonation, account hacking, and doxing, abusive tactics are intended to intimidate, discredit, and silence. LGBTQ+ writers, journalists, creators, and activists—whose work increasingly requires an online presence—face a double bind.

But there are steps we can all take to protect ourselves and one another from online abuse. Join PEN America, GLAAD, NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, and the Trans Journalists Association (TJA) for a free webinar series offering a crash course on digital safety and online abuse defense. Hear from folks on the front line, and exchange strategies for how to stay safe and fight back.