YouTube’s New Tools Attempt to Address Online Harassment

Online harassment and abuse can take many forms. Threating and hateful comments turn up across online communities from newspapers to blogs to social media. Anyone posting online can be the target of these comments, which cross the line from honest disagreement to vengeful and violent attacks. This behavior is more than someone saying something you don’t like or saying something “mean” – it often includes ongoing harassment that can be nasty, personal, or threatening in nature. For survivors of abuse, threatening comments can be traumatizing, frightening, and can lead some people to not participate in online spaces.

YouTube recently created new tools to combat online abuse occurring within comments. These tools let users who post on their site choose words or phrases to “blacklist” as well as the option to use a beta (or test) version of a filter that will flag potentially inappropriate comments. With both tools, the comments are held for the user’s approval before going public. Users can also select other people to help moderate the comments.

Here’s a summary of the tools, pulled from YouTube:

• Choose Moderators: This was launched earlier in the year and allows users to give select people they trust the ability to remove public comments.

• Blacklist Words and Phrases: Users can have comments with select words or phrases held back from being posted until they are approved.

• Hold Potentially Inappropriate Comments for Review: Currently available in beta, this feature offers an automated system that will flag and hold, according to YouTube’s algorithm, any potentially inappropriate comments for approval before they are published. The algorithm may, of course, pull content that the user thinks is fine, but it will improve in its detection based on the users’ choices.

Survivors who post online know that abusive comments can come in by the hundreds or even thousands. While many sites have offered a way to report or block comments, these steps have only been available after a comment is already public, and each comment may have to be reported one by one. This new approach helps to catch abusive comments before they go live, and takes the pressure off of having to watch the comment feed 24 hours a day.

These tools also offer survivors a means to be proactive in protecting their information and safety. Since many online harassment includes tactics such as doxing (where personal information of someone is posted online with the goal of causing them harm), a YouTube user can add their personal information to the list of words and phrases that are not allowed to be posted. This can include part or all of phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, or usernames of other accounts. Proactively being able to block someone from posting your personal content in this space will be a great tool.

Everyone has the right to express themselves safely online, and survivors should be able to fully participate in online spaces. Connecting with family and friends online helps protect against the isolation that many survivors experience. These new tools can help to protect survivors’ voices online.

Stop. Think. Connect.

The internet is such a big part of our lives. We bank, shop, watch movies, read the news, play games, and do a lot more. We also share a lot about ourselves online, whether it’s letting Sephora (and every online targeted advertiser) know that you're currently looking for the perfect lipstick (which I found, by the way!) or sharing selfies of said perfect lipstick on Facebook. The internet knows a lot about us – just Google yourself. You might be surprised at how well-known you actually are.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month as well as National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). For survivors of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault, online security and safety is imperative; but it’s also important for everyone. One of the theme for NCSAM is STOP. THINK. CONNECT. Before you connect online, stop, and think about your privacy and security. Who’s going to see that selfie on Facebook? Is your connection secure when you type in your credit card information on Sephora’s website? (Tip: Check your Facebook privacy settings, and make sure you’re using an HTTPS connection when sharing sensitive financial information.)

To honor Domestic Violence Awareness Month and National Cyber Security Awareness Month, we’ve put together a series of videos on Online Privacy & Safety. Below is today’s video, and for the next four days, we’ll be releasing a new video in this series (check back here daily or follow NNEDV on social media to see them all!). They’re short and sweet, and we hope they will be helpful.

·        Online Privacy & Safety - Introduction

·        Creating an Account

·        Security Settings

·        Privacy Settings

·        Facebook Privacy, Security & Safety

Meanwhile, if you want more tips on surfing the internet safely, check out:

“Online Privacy & Safety” section in our Technology Safety & Privacy: A Toolkit for Survivors

National Cyber Security Awareness Month’s Tips

3 Simple Questions To Determine Which Safety App is Right for You

Many apps on the market have been specifically designed to help users communicate their safety needs in an emergency. These are referred to as safety apps and they use the cell phone’s location, text messages, alarms, video/camera features, and other alert options.

As more of these safety apps become available, one of the questions we get a lot is: "Which safety app should I use?" And we wish we can say: "Use this one!" However, we can’t because which app you choose depends on a lot of things. In fact, we wrote a handout on things to consider when selecting a safety app. Still, many people ask us: "But can’t you just tell me which one to use?" To narrow it down, we’ve created 3 simple questions to get you started.

What do you want the safety app to do?

Do you want an easy way to notify your friends or family if you’re in danger? Would you prefer to connect with authorities in an emergency? Or are you looking for basic information about domestic violence or resources local to you that can help? Most apps have a different purposes and determining what you want is the first step.

Does the app meet your needs?

Is the app easy to use or make it easier for you to do something? Remember, the purpose of an app is to make life easier. If it actually makes it harder for you to do something, then just stick with what’s easiest. It might be faster to call your friend than to find the app among all the other apps on your phone, find the right screen, tap it three times, darn—tapped the wrong area, tap again, only for it to send a cryptic message that might confuse your friend.

Does the app truly do what it says it will?

This is where you should test the app to see if it works the way it says it will. For example, some apps will send your location to your safety contacts if you’re in danger. Test it. Did it do that? Was the location accurate? This step is critical if you’re using a safety app for communicating in a potential emergency. Test this app with friends and family before you’re in danger and with friends and family who uses different types of devices. Some apps work more accurately on one platform versus another.

These three questions will get you started in determining if it’s the right app for you. Of course, if you’re a survivor or someone who is concerned about your privacy and want to be thorough, check out our handout on Choosing & Using Apps: Considerations for Survivors. But if that’s tl;dr, start with these 3 questions.

You can also read our reviews on select apps too. We’ve downloaded them and tested them, and we offer a pretty thorough assessment on each of them. Ultimately, however, whether an app is right for you is up to you. (Just make sure it works and that it’s what you want!)