<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3ZvzRw_0wMDjDQQ00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3ZvzRw_0wMDjDQQ00" width="717" height="540" ></figure>The story had all the signs of a PR plant. It simply said that a K-pop star was taking a hiatus from TV to concentrate on her singing career. Yet, once the story was posted, the female journalist was targeted with a relentless barrage of abuse, threats and misogynistic trolling.She could not figure out why she was targeted or the trigger for the digitised hate. What she understood very quickly was that gendered violence online can take over your life and dominate every aspect of it.This is a perfect example of the dynamics of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV). It can happen anywhere, anytime and to anyone.If this story were to be published in Australia and not in the East Asian country where it in fact was posted, the toxic pool of hate would not be that deep. This is simply because the Australian K-pop fan base is not as committed or populated as in East Asia. Nor is K-pop a significant factor in daily life.Even if it were, the fear and anxiety the threats would influence are highly likely to be lower. Bulk of the toxic content originated from accounts with profile pictures of teenage or young males. Every time, the targeted journalist was outside, she worried that some of her online haters would be around her, following her. Her close-loved ones were K-pop fans and held their own opinions on the story.Recent work by the Dart Centre Asia Pacific (DCAP) highlights that TFGBV is a growing threat across the region. The increasing reliance on digital resource for journalism has made the threat even more potent.In response, DCAP has partnered with regional and national organisations to embed skills within Asia Pacific journalism communities to help mitigate the impact of the escalating threat of TFGBV. The latest collaboration is with Yayasan Pulih (YP), an Indonesian grassroots organisation working to strengthen media literacy. Together with YP, DCAP will help develop two in-person workshops designed to tackle TFGBV in Indonesia. Supported by funding from the Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), these workshops will be facilitated in Jakarta next month. The workshops, offered in local languages, will be offered to 40 journalists and professionals focusing on media literacy and rights.This is not the first time that DCAP have collaborated with YP to facilitate locally-delivered workshops designed to mitigate the impact of TFGBV for Indonesian journalists. This project builds upon former work completed in 2023 where the two not-for-profit organisations also came together to help provide important psychosocial education and support to Indonesian journalists, media workers, and their allies. This type of work is especially important to lessen the potential impact of TFGBV among journalism communities who work in native languages and work outside of urban centres.The growing problem of TFGBV facing journalists across the Asia Pacific region also informed DCAP’s decision to facilitate its inaugural online TFGBV Fellowship program earlier this year. Fourteen journalists from across Asia Pacific participated in six online workshops over six months. This program was the first of it’s kind for DCAP, bringing fellows together online once a month over a six-month period to participate in workshops that were facilitated by DCAP experts and subject matter experts.One of the key outputs of the program, which was funded by Google News Initiative (GNI) was a tip sheet for managing TFGBV as a journalist. The tip sheet was developed using a combination of evidence, expert advice, and lived experience. Translations are available on the Dart Center website in Hindi, Korean, Filipino, Fijian, Bengali, Traditional Chinese, Sinhala, Solomon Island Pijin and Cebuano/Bisayan.Link to tip sheets - https://dartcenter.org/resources/five-tips-protecting-yourself-against-technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-tfgbv</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Sustained work needed to combat TFGBV in Asia Pacific

The story had all the signs of a PR plant. It simply said that a K-pop star was taking a hiatus from TV to concentrate on her singing career. Yet, once the story was posted, the female journalist was targeted with a relentless barrage of abuse, threats and misogynistic trolling.