Since The Debrief started, we've brought you (pretty sad) stories of women being disproportionately trolled, harassed and silenced online. It's been going on for years and it's happened to some of our writers and it very may well have happened to you or any other woman who's dared to voice an opinion online.
If you don't know what we're talking about, we don't mean valid criticism when a woman's opinions are taken on board as a straight white man's would, we mean people saying sexualised stuff, throwing around threats, prejudice, racism, bigotry, or somehow thinking that women are there for unrelenting irrelevant criticism whereas men can just get on with their lives.
That's why we love the idea of Heartmob, a Kickstarter-funded website where people (not just women!) can log on, explain the sort of harassment they're getting online and other users can help them out.
READ MORE: This Is What One Week Of Trolling Looks Like When You Take On #GamerGate
Organised by Hollaback, the focus is on both bringing harassers to account (as much as that can be done when police and Twitter seem to respond to harassment with the 'just block and ignore'-type advice) and encouraging bystanders. If we're to change a culture where women are apparently fair game for harassment, we need to shame the harassers by showing them that they're on the losing side. Check out the video for more info:
Oh, and the Kickstarter? It's raised over $14,000 of its original $10,000 target and that means that yes, it can and will happen. And maybe, hopefully, in a dream world come true, this people-led support group will be partnered by the platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. After all, the internet is meant to be free for all, not a free for all for anonymous knuckle-dragging trolls to send you death threats, right?
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Good News - Twitter Is Doing Something About Its Trolling Problem
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.