#takebackthetech may be a new hashtag, but the community behind it, along with other feminist communities, have been gamergate targets over the past couple of months.

On Oct 9, 2015, at 12:00 PM, Zara Rahman <zara@cihr.eu> wrote:

Hi Gilad,

I was writing about trolling the #takebackthetech community specifically, and this is new, according to key members of that community. They emailed earlier today to say it started today.

Best,

Zara

On 09/10/2015 17:57, Gilad Lotan wrote:

...

This is not new. The “gamergate” community has been continuously trolling these issues online. I just published an analysis this morning about the #ShoutYourAbortion hashtag, where the gamergate community is actively engaged against the different Feminist communities -

http://qz.com/520309/how-to-tell-whether-a-twitter-user-is-pro-choice-or-pro... <http://qz.com/520309/how-to-tell-whether-a-twitter-user-is-pro-choice-or-pro-life-without-reading-any-of-their-tweets/>

Gilad

...

On Oct 9, 2015, at 11:44 AM, Zara Rahman < <mailto:zara@cihr.eu>zara@cihr.eu <mailto:zara@cihr.eu>> wrote:

Hi all,

I thought this might be of interest for those of you studying trolling: there is a (seemingly well-coordinated) Gamergate going on right now against those using the hashtag #takebackthetech and (to a lesser extent) #imagineafeministinternet.

Both of these hashtags started with the feminist organisation APC, and they were/are planning an online twitter discussion tonight on the impact of onlnie violence against women - but Gamergate trolls seem to have picked up on it in advance.

The community is organising at the moment on how to respond, but if you're interested in following/studying/archiving the attack - head to #takebackthetech <https://twitter.com/hashtag/TakeBackTheTech?src=hash <https://twitter.com/hashtag/TakeBackTheTech?src=hash>>.

For reference: https://www.takebackthetech.net/ <https://www.takebackthetech.net/> https://www.apc.org/en/about/programmes/womens-networking-support-programme-... <https://www.apc.org/en/about/programmes/womens-networking-support-programme-apc-wnsp>

Thanks - if you end up working on this topic further, please let me know! And, perhaps this goes without saying but please don't @/tag me or others in your responses if you choose to respond on Twitter. The organisers of the twitter chat have already received abusive twitter and email messages.

Best,

Zara

-- Zara Rahman Fellow at Centre for Internet and Human Rights http://zararah.net <http://zararah.net/> | Twitter: @zararah

_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org <mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org <http://aoir.org/> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org <http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org>

Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/ <http://www.aoir.org/>

I agree it is important to make this distinction. Also, I wanted to note that these attacks seem to mobilize specifically on Twitter where they target folks for further inquiry later on. My peers and I have been attacked and then subsequently our research was "under review" on multiple levels. However, they seem to start with Twitter presence first. Best, Gabriela Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 9, 2015, at 12:16 PM, Zara Rahman <zara@cihr.eu> wrote:

Hi Gilad,

Thank you for your comments; to explain my initial email a little further, the #takebackthetech community is a specific one that has been mobilising online for at least a year, I think more. They focus specifically on online violence against women and have coordinated a number of campaigns under that hashtag (such as the 'feminist internet principles)- and they have good reason to suspect they're being targeted because of their upcoming twitter chat and their previous work.

I understand that other feminist communities have been targeted (including a good number of my peers) - but I, and many other feminists in this space, think it's important to make the distinction between different feminist communities, and recognise that specific communities are being selected as 'new' targets. The large majority of people in the #takebackthetech community have never been targeted before - hence my email to the list. I believe we have a lot to learn about, for example, how they 'start' campaigns, how they select them, and how they hijack previously well-established hashtags. Not to mention the community response, which is ongoing.

Thanks, I hope that explains a bit better!

Best,

Zara

...

On 09/10/2015 18:06, Gilad Lotan wrote: #takebackthetech may be a new hashtag, but the community behind it, along with other feminist communities, have been gamergate targets over the past couple of months.

...

On Oct 9, 2015, at 12:00 PM, Zara Rahman <zara@cihr.eu <mailto:zara@cihr.eu>> wrote:

Hi Gilad,

I was writing about trolling the #takebackthetech community specifically, and this *is* new, according to key members of that community. They emailed earlier today to say it started today.

Best,

Zara

...

On 09/10/2015 17:57, Gilad Lotan wrote: This is not new. The “gamergate” community has been continuously trolling these issues online. I just published an analysis this morning about the #ShoutYourAbortion hashtag, where the gamergate community is actively engaged against the different Feminist communities -

http://qz.com/520309/how-to-tell-whether-a-twitter-user-is-pro-choice-or-pro...

Gilad

...

On Oct 9, 2015, at 11:44 AM, Zara Rahman <zara@cihr.eu> wrote:

Hi all,

I thought this might be of interest for those of you studying trolling: there is a (seemingly well-coordinated) Gamergate going on right now against those using the hashtag #takebackthetech and (to a lesser extent) #imagineafeministinternet.

Both of these hashtags started with the feminist organisation APC, and they were/are planning an online twitter discussion tonight on the impact of onlnie violence against women - but Gamergate trolls seem to have picked up on it in advance.

The community is organising at the moment on how to respond, but if you're interested in following/studying/archiving the attack - head to #takebackthetech <https://twitter.com/hashtag/TakeBackTheTech?src=hash>.

For reference: https://www.takebackthetech.net/ https://www.apc.org/en/about/programmes/womens-networking-support-programme-...

Thanks - if you end up working on this topic further, please let me know! And, perhaps this goes without saying but please don't @/tag me or others in your responses if you choose to respond on Twitter. The organisers of the twitter chat have already received abusive twitter and email messages.

Best,

Zara

-- Zara Rahman Fellow at Centre for Internet and Human Rights http://zararah.net | Twitter: @zararah

_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org

Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/

_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org

Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/