Safeguarding Women Is Crucial In The Digital Era
The digital dilemma is cyberviolence.
*Editor’s Note: If you believe that you have been the victim of a cyber sex crime or cyber harassment, here are some resources from RAINN that address cyber violence. Article segments: Introduction, Black women’s experiences, The Bigger Picture
Introduction
Cyber violence is an epidemic. Two weeks ago, the 19th reported that 26 members of Congress were targeted by “sexually explicit deepfakes.” Deepfakes are doctored media depicting people in false situations; in this case, it was sexual situations. According to research obtained by the 19th, “more than 35,000 mentions of nonconsensual intimate imagery (NCII) depicting 26 members of Congress — 25 women and one man — that were found recently on deepfake websites.”
Often, victims of these cyber crimes are women and marginalized people, Nina Jankowicz told the 19th. Jankowicz is the founder of the American Sunlight Project, which analyzes the impact of disinformation. In a study conducted by the ASP, they found that women in Congress were 70 times more likely to be targeted by non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII), the technical name for sexually explicit deepfakes.
Another high-profile victim of NCII is Taylor Swift. Swift has been victimized by this crime multiple times. Moreover, an article by Yahoo News! noted that 98 percent of deepfakes are NCII. With Swift, she has threatened lawsuits, but there is little legal precedent for this kind of crime. With few laws written about this new phenomenon, victims are essentially left powerless.
As a result, some advocates are calling on Big Tech (or giants in the tech industry) to do more to regulate NCII. Some Big Tech companies have answered this call-to-action, with Cash App pledging to divest from any company that disseminates NCII. According to the 19th, Cash App was not the only one to respond to this call. Google vowed to adjust “its search ranking for queries related to nonconsensual explicit deepfakes.” Additionally, Facebook (Meta), “cited its partnership with StopNCII, dating back to 2021, and its tool, Take It Down, launched in 2023. Meta also pointed to its removal in July of 63,000 Instagram accounts that were tied to financial sextortion.”
So, in general, strides are being made to mitigate the harm of NCII. Yet, it’s not the only type of cyber violence out there. Another, more familiar, branch of cyberviolence is cyberbullying. Like NCII, the victims of cyberbullying are often marginalized and women. Exploding Topics, a website that explores trending topics, noted that “Black middle-school-aged cyberbullying victims are almost 135% more likely to consider and plan suicide than non-victims.”
This statistic alone highlights the problem: people are emboldened by online anonymity. When it comes to Black women, this is especially true.
Black women’s online experience
If you are chronically online, you have seen it. For almost every year since 2020, a Black woman has been the victim of a cyberharassment campaign. In 2020, Maya Angelique made an observation that led to a yearslong harassment campaign from Hip Hop hotep Talib Kweli. It resulted in Kweli losing his Twitter account and also losing out on opportunities. Yet, Kweli has never reflected on his crash out.
When Semicolon books in Chicago learned of his targeted and continuous harassment campaign, they cancelled his speaking engagement at their store. Afterward, Kweli reacted by making them the next victim of his harassing behavior. Kweli exists within an online subculture dubbed “nigcels.” These are Black male incels who get their rocks off harassing Black women.
In 2022, Shabree Rawls encountered the nigcel experience when she reacted to a book she was reading and shared that men could benefit from therapy. What followed was a firestorm that resulted in her being fired. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, many social media users did not take kindly to her assessment of men’s experiences, and they contacted her job. This same year, another user faced online harassment for making a comment that she could only pull white men with her natural hair.
This resulted in her being denigrated for endless days and nights, and one user even created a fake dating profile with her photo to “prove” she could pull Black men and she was just being anti-Black by what she posted. With these occurrences, it’s understandable why Black women feel unsafe online.
Although the momentum slowed last year, it has picked back up amid a tense election season that inflates race relations. Last month, influencer Kayla Nicole opened up about the ongoing harassment she’s received for dating Chiefs tight-end Travis Kelce. Although they broke up in 2022, she is still a victim of cyberbullying at the hands of Kelce’s crazed fans. She is not the only Black woman facing online harassment for simply existing. Another one was Golloria, a TikTok beauty influencer who reviews products to see if they are suitable for dark skin.
She reviewed YSL’s recent blush release and gave her honest opinion that the white base made it inaccessible to dark skin, and she was met with racist and colorist commentary about her skin tone being too dark for the blush. Afterward, she took a brief leave from social media, and it sparked conversations about the treatment of Black women on and off the TikTok app. Just three months later, yet another Black woman became a harassment target.
On Twitter, artist DeeLaSheeArt posted a Christmas photo depicting a family with a single mom, and it gained backlash from the nigcel community. The visceral reactions led to one user creating an AI version of her artwork, claiming to have made it “better.” Sadly, these are just a handful of viral experiences that mirror the Black woman’s interactions on social media. As Malcolm X said, “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.”
This quote, which he relayed in 1969, is still relevant in 2024 going into 2025. A modernized version of this wisdom was heard on the opening track of Kendrick Lamar’s GNX. He rapped, “Don’t let no white comedian talk about no black woman, that’s law.” This bar was seemingly a shot at Andrew Schulz, who went viral earlier this year for his racist comments toward Black women.
In a video with shxtsngigs podcasters James Duncan and Fuhad Dawodo, Schulz said that men who date Black women shave their head because they start losing it due to being stressed out (presumably because Black women are stressors). Then, he added that they grow beards as a cushion for when they get smacked. The insinuation of aggression and violence plays into the angry Black woman trope.
Schulz has been unapologetic about his remarks, but he did say he could make love to Kendrick Lamar against Kendrick’s will. Although Schulz might chalk it up to jokes, podcasters like him are not the only ones who have gotten popular for hating on Black women. Another famous podcast is Fresh & Fit, which is notorious for bringing Black women on just to tear them down. One of the hosts, Myron Gaines, is a nonblack individual who says the n-word constantly and has called the rapper Asian Doll a “weave warrior,” which is a racist trope toward Black women.
Sadly, though, these experiences are not just happening online. They translate to women’s everyday experiences.
The Bigger Picture
After shooting Megan Thee Stallion in 2020, Tory Lanez went on a hate campaign against the fellow rapper. This is but one example of the online and offline vitriol that Megan faced. Notably, he made a video to his song “Cap,” and he chopped up horse legs with the letters “HGS” on the wall. Many interpreted this to mean “Hot Girl Special,” a direct attack on Megan’s brand.
As a result, Megan has filed a new restraining order against Lanez to prevent him from harassing her further when he is released.This is one example of online hate translating to offline violence.
Another example is Roda Osman, the lady who was assaulted with a brick last year. She not only faced physical violence but also cyber violence when people began picking apart her story and claiming she just had an allergic reaction. Although Osman was charged with faking the story, she maintained that the police were targeting her.
Really, the online vitriol is dangerous because it leads to real-life violence. Earlier this week, a video went viral of a North Carolina woman who was set on fire by a man. Ashanti Downey remains in critical condition, but her mom has started a GoFundMe to cover her medical expenses, as the fire burned 70 percent of Downey’s body, according to Praise Charlotte.
This horrid crime is not the only one making headlines this week. In another story, Laken RIley was murdered by a man who claimed to be on “the hunt” for her, ABC News reported. This article further noted that the prosecutor told courts: “‘When Laken Riley refused to be his rape victim, he bashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly.”
These scary experiences just show us that violence against women thrives in the digital age. To reduce the harm done by cyberviolence, Big Tech must block the dissemination of NCII and moderate hate campaigns; aggressors must face social consequences; victims must be connected to resources to help them overcome cyber abuses. Finally, lawmakers must write (and enforce) laws that penalize cybercriminals. By following these recommendations, the internet can become a space for innovation, not denigration.
About This Rwebel
Javanna is a multifaceted professional with a rich background in writing, education, and media. She holds a Master of Science in Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts in English, which has fueled her passion for storytelling and communication. Javanna is the CEO and founder of Rwebel, where she produces books, articles, and multimedia videos about culture and difference.
