Researcher Resources
Researchers do incredibly important work, shining a light on the otherwise clouded social media ecosystem that constitutes our present-day public square. Sometimes the work results in intimidation tactics from platforms, government agencies, or platform users. Depending on the subject matter, this work can also result in adverse impacts to researcher mental health.
We hope the following resources are helpful to the research community’s ability to continue its important work amid threats from many angles. If you’d like to see a resource added to this list or are looking for help in an area not already covered by these resources, please get in touch.
Dealing with online harassment and threats of violence:
Personalized resource + reporting platform designed to address online violence, globally.
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pirth.org supports survivors of online violence by intaking and evaluating user-reported threats received on social media and escalating the reports for accountability purposes and advocating for evidence-based systemic solutions – all with trust and transparency.
The Researcher Support Consortium built a toolkit to support researchers, their funders, and their institutions in preparation of – and in response to – intimidation and harassment. Download the full toolkit here.
Games and Online Harassment Hotline produced a guide to digital safety, focused on prevention. It is designed to help keep researchers safe from individuals, loosely organized groups & cybermobs. It details best security practices for social media, email, online gaming, website hosting, and protecting privacy of personal information online, as well as the documentation and reporting of harassment, and caring for yourself emotionally during an online attack.
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Mental health resources:
Our partner, Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), is an independent, non-profit social enterprise dedicated to exposing human rights abuses and war crimes, countering disinformation, and combating online behaviour harmful to women and minorities.
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CIR developed best practices for researchers to take care of their mental health when encountering traumatic material. Their entire internal report can be downloaded here.
Crisis Text Line is a nonprofit that helps people who struggle with mental health get free, 24/7 support when they need it most.
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Text HOME to 741741 from anywhere in the United States. A live, trained volunteer Crisis Counselor receives the text and responds to issues ranging from suicide to depression to self harm.
Legal support:
The Knight First Amendment Institute defends the freedoms of speech and the press in the digital age through strategic litigation, research, policy advocacy, and public education.
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The Knight Institute advises technology researchers and journalists facing legal risk, and it also advises a fund, administered by The Miami Foundation, that was established to help cover the legal costs that researchers incur in defending their work.