July 24, 2020, Sydney, Australia -- The Coalition For Women In Journalism is utterly disturbed to be reporting on the third online attack towards women journalists this week alone. We call upon all journalism organizations and law enforcement in respective countries to mobilize against the online intimidation and silencing campaigns towards women journalists which often involve profanities, doxxing and hacking.

The latest incident of such happened yesterday in Australia. Leigh Sales has detailed the lewd online abuse she suffered in the wake of her TV interview with Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

According to PerthNow, Leigh was asking tough questions of the nation’s leader before being attacked by trolls who told her “(she) pretty much sits on his lap whenever she ‘interviews’ him”.

“Female politicians, journalists, public figures get this non-stop,” she wrote, exposing the lewd comments she received. It indeed coincided with statements given on the same day, by congresswomen in the United States against the lewd, sexist and racist comments they receive daily. The fury was sparked from profanities Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez heard from another member of the Congress. 

The internet provides opportunities growingly for accessing and sharing information day by day.

Internet users get to comment, besides creating and sharing content. However, this situation makes it difficult to distinguish between true and useful information. The skills of critical thinking, digital literacy and media literacy have gained importance as a result of propagation of messages which contain misleading, provocative or insulting elements. 

Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter that users interact with each other online, emerged from an expanse of computer mediated communication. Social media provides for a less censored medium which is citizen journalism driven.

However, widespread use of online platforms paved the way for the concept of trolling which means provoking people to react emotionally.

Women and women journalists especially get the brunt of trolling and other forms of online attacks which constitute a way of censorship.

Online intimidation and threats have become a growing problem for women journalists who have become special targets in the online-sphere. This poses a severe threat to pluralism and media freedom in general. The amount and content of online threats against women have reached such advanced levels that many female journalists now continue their journalistic activities offline. 

As The Coalition For Women In Journalism, our fight against increasing online harassment and threats against women journalists will continue to be at the top of our agenda as an integral part of ensuring security of women journalists. Press freedom cannot be achieved without security.