What is the Troll Register?
Troll Register is a Ushahidi Crowdmap, adapted from ideas that have been followed by
Safecity and
HarassMap. The platform crowd-sources personal stories and accounts of cyber harassment, across a range of online media platforms - both social media and peer-to-peer digital media spaces. These stories can be reported on the platform by a person facing harassment directly. Some pointers, reports are to be filed:
- Anonymously or with full disclosure of the reporter's identity at their own risk
- With comprehensive details of the harassing account / handle / link / avatar / number
- With geolocation of the person being harassed
- With screenshots wherever relevant
What happens after reporting?
The data that is received is then verified and then added onto the map.
Users who visit the map can then report these accounts to the forum that it took place on.
The mapping team receiving this data will also attempt to report the said accounts.
They will then aggregate and report occurrences to the forum, while also doing its best to follow up on each case to the best extent possible.
Why is this important?
The UNWomen (2015) has suggested that:
- 73% women have been abused online.
- Women are 27 times more likely to be abused online than men.
- Online harassers are more likely to be men (61%).
- 9 Million women have experienced a form of serious cyber VAWG since the age of 15.
- 1 in 5 women feel the internet is inappropriate for them.
- Women aged 18-24 are at great risk of Cyber VAWG.
Cyber VAWG can be incredibly dangerous and result in adverse psychological consequences, and even lead to crimes like rape and murder. The culture of silence creates lasting impacts on young people, who then grow up with a lot of baggage. The silence in the system allows for Cyber VAWG to continue.
TrollRegister is an initiative to create safe spaces online and to restore equality in the tech space.
Who can report?
Anyone facing Cyber Harassment or any form of conduct that amounts to Cyber VAWG.
