Isolation, stalking, and harassment are common abusive tactics that occur both in-person and in digital spaces. While survivors cannot control a person’s abusive behaviors, they can take steps to increase their privacy and well-being. As advocates, talking with young people about digital safety planning can help them to explore their options and support friends who may be experiencing harassment and abuse.

Explore Safety Options

Exploring safety options should center the needs of survivors and highlight their strengths. Survivors are experts of their situation and their partner. This process is not about prescribing a plan, but rather supporting the person as they navigate this difficult time. Start by discussing what platforms, services, and communication devices are important to the person, where any harassment is happening, and what they are hoping to happen. Talk about what safety means to them – it could be securing accounts, resetting privacy settings, collecting documentation, or disconnecting from shared digital spaces.

Advocates can support survivors in exploring options, identifying resources, and determining what feels safest to them. 

Identify Safer Devices

Discuss what devices and platforms could be safest for sensitive and private communications or online activity. If they are concerned that their partner/ex is monitoring them, avoiding devices the abusive partner has had physical or remote access to in the past can increase privacy. Safer options can include a friend’s device or a library computer. Support students in identifying other safer devices that they may have access to or could gain access to in their community. 

Be Strategic

Help to identifying potential strategies around their technology use, keeping safety in mind. While it may be a natural instinct to immediately cut off connections (delete accounts, destroy devices, block etc.) to abusive individuals, be mindful that these actions can often escalate violence, as the abusive individual may respond to the loss of access to the survivor.  Ask what feels safe to them and help to look at the individual privacy and security options for the different platforms they are using.

Document

Discuss the possibilities for documenting incidents and abuse. It can be important to keep track of any abusive, threatening, or harassing comments, posts, or messages. Consider preserving evidence before removing connections to an abuser, if that is what the survivor wants. To learn more, check out our resource on Documentation Tips.

Keep an Open Mind

Youth you’re working with may use platforms, services, devices, and language to communicate that are unfamiliar to you. Remember that their primary communication methods are critical to them and may represent an important aspect of their life that can be deeply connected to their well-being. The goal for safety planning will be to help survivors use their technology in the safest way; not to remove their technology. Learn about the online spaces that are important to them to help support this process.  

Additional safety planning steps to address online harassment and abuse that you can discuss:
(The survivor they should be the one to determine which steps feels safest for them.) 

  • Change passwords and usernames, and opt for two-factor authentication where possible.

    • This can be time-consuming, but could be especially important if account information had been shared within the relationship. These account changes can increase privacy and control.  

  • Adjust social media privacy settings.

    • Assist in looking at the available privacy settings for the online spaces the survivor uses. This could include making the account private and unsearchable, changing privacy settings on individual photos or albums, and/or choosing who can see what content.

  • Check device settings to ensure they reflect your desired level of privacy or to make sure no one has tampered with them.

    • If the abusive person had physical access to their devices, it could be important to review all downloaded apps, the map and location sharing settings, and other privacy and security settings.

  • If it is safe to do so and what the person wants, block accounts and phone numbers of abusive people.

    • This is not a step that should be rushed to if the survivor is worried the person would escalate or if they are concerned about capturing more evidence for accountability.

  • Protect location information.

    • Check settings in social media accounts, cell phone, vehicle and more to ensure that location sharing is off or limited to specific, known people. 

  • Set up a virtual number.

    • Using a virtual number can allow the survivor to still engage in online spaces without giving out their real cell number.

Visit eleven-24.org or TechSafety.org for more information.