The internet is plagued by misogyny and abuse

The world of technology has long been thought of as being male dominated. For those concerned with diversity, this is situation is less than ideal but a bigger problem exists in the form of online abuse. This does not refer just to trolling and immature silliness, but the more serious issue of targeted misogyny.

The headline to this article may seem to state the obvious, but it's very easy to assume that something is the case without actually having the evidence to support it. Personal experience is one thing, but how does this translate to the wider sphere? New research shows that there is indeed a serious problem with online abuse and misogyny, particularly on social media, and a campaign is underway to try to tackle the scourge.

A study examined instances of the words 'whore' and 'slut' on Twitter. Over a period of just three weeks, these two words were used to attack around 6,500 people in 10,000 tweets in the UK. Looking globally, 200,000 tweets containing these words were sent to 80,000 people.

In the UK, politicians are launching a coordinated campaign to help raise awareness of the problem and to try to come up with solutions. While admitting that it fails to counter misogynistic content successfully, Facebook says that it supports the campaign. Under the banner of Reclaim the Internet the consultation is looking for input from anyone who might have suggestions -- business leaders, tech companies, individuals, and so on.

Twitter has already attempted to tackle its well-known trolling problem, but it has really had little effect. Yvette Cooper, the Labour politician heading the campaign said:

Forty years ago women took to the streets to challenge attitudes and demand action against harassment on the streets. Today the internet is our streets and public spaces. Yet for some people online harassment, bullying, misogyny, racism or homophobia can end up poisoning the internet and stopping them from speaking out. We have responsibilities as online citizens to make sure the internet is a safe space. Challenging online abuse can't be done by any organization alone. This needs everyone.

The campaign has the support of gay rights groups, Google, Twitter, women's organizations, domestic violence groups, teaching unions, and more. You can find out more about the campaign at the Reclaim the Internet website and share ideas in the forum.

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