TGS executive Banu Tuna, journalists Büşra Cebeci and Neşe İdil discussed digital violence targeting women journalists in our online panel

Expression Interrupted hosted an online panel earlier this week, focusing on the increasing digital violence targeting women journalists and methods to combat it. Moderated by journalist Meltem Akyol, the panel’s speakers were Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) Istanbul Branch President Banu Tuna and journalists Büşra Cebeci and Neşe İdil.

Women journalists are exposed to digital violence because of the news they produce, the media they work in, and their social media posts. According to a report by the Coalition for Women in Journalism (CFWIJ), Turkey is one of the two countries with the highest number of physical attacks against women journalists. According to a UN report on cyber violence against women and girls, issued earlier this year, women are exposed to digital violence 27 times more than men. According to research conducted by UNESCO and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), in which 714 women journalists from 113 countries were interviewed, 73 percent of women say they have been subjected to digital violence. Twenty percent of women who say they have been subjected to digital violence state that they have also been subjected to physical violence and harassment due to the issue that caused them to be subjected to digital violence.

“Women journalists are attacked because of their gender”

TGS Istanbul Branch President Banu Tuna, who has written an academic thesis on sexist language and harassment against women journalists on social media, referred to the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) report and said that one out of every three women journalists have been subjected to digital violence.

Noting that digital violence affects all segments of society, Tuna pointed out that the most important feature of digital violence that women journalists are exposed to is the sexist nature of violence. “A woman who raises her voice on social media draws attention and can become the target of violence,” Tuna said.

Recalling a recent workshop TGS organized on violence against journalists, Tuna said: “This workshop had three sections: violence in the workplace, violence in the field and digital violence. Violence targeting journalists in the field, especially police brutality, is so prevalent and so urgent that the workshop turned into a therapy space. So, we were only able to talk about digital violence for 20 minutes.”

Tuna noted that women did not consider the attacks they are subjected to on social media as a form of violence: “Our threshold for violence is so high that we only say, ‘I have been subjected to digital violence’ when we receive a rape threat.”

According to Tuna, one of the reasons why digital violence is almost impossible to talk about is that it is not taken seriously: “We know what happened to us, but when we talk about it we should be taken seriously. But those we are going to complain to -- law enforcement, the judiciary, our superiors at work -- are all men. Employers in such situations accuse the journalist of acting cowardly. This makes women hesitate to say that they are afraid or uncomfortable. Companies should have guidelines regarding what to do in these situations and they should take responsibility. If a journalist’s employer stands behind the journalist in these situations, they could prevent those attacks.”

Stressing that impunity is widespread in this area, Tuna also pointed out another problem that could arise when a journalist takes digital violence to the court: “A name that was a virtual threat until that point suddenly turns into a physical entity. The name, address and telephone number of the journalist are written in the complaint. The lawyer of the accused -- and therefore the accused -- has access to the file. That is a risk. Women don't want to take this risk.”

Tuna added that the topics that draw digital attacks the most are usually nationalism, refugees, and news about religion or religiosity.

“Criticism turns into violence”

Journalist Neşe İdil, who recently became the target of attacks on social media because of a tweet she shared on anti-refugee sentiments in Turkey, recalled what she went through: “I was subjected to digital violence twice in the last three-and-a-half months. Both incidents were based on the refugee issue. The first one started when I called a politician racist. The second one happened when I commented on a recent sexual abuse case and wrote that we should be concerned with the identity of the abuser as a male, not his race or his identity as a ‘refugee man.’ I received messages that read, ‘If you love refugees so much, why don’t you host them in your house,’ ‘I hope they harass you,’ ‘I hope they rape you too.’”

İdil said the messages gradually evolved into an online harassment campaign targeting her for her work as a journalist: “Some people assume that when journalists receive funds from European countries, those countries dictate what the journalists write. I faced the absurd accusation that I had posted that message because Europe tells us to protect the refugees. … But a male journalist facing the same absurd accusation does not receive messages such as ‘How much for an hour?’ or ‘Would you accept 100 dollars?’ Criticism against women journalists often turns into an attack on the journalist’s body.”

İdil has filed a criminal complaint about the messages she received. But she was encouraged to give up, which she refuses to: “Even if nothing comes out of it, at least I will say I tried. I'm not just a social media figure. I am a person. It’s not that those attacks didn’t hurt me just because they happened on the Internet. … Social media has become such a sphere that people forget that the other person is a human being. A person who normally can’t talk that way to my face can write very harsh words on a digital medium.”

İdil added that she did not receive support from her employer regarding the digital violence she suffered: “After my tweet in which I called a politician racist, I was told I shouldn't have taunted him in the first place. This attitude is almost like telling a woman who suffers a physical attack that she ‘shouldn't have worn a skirt.’”

“They are trying to intimidate us”

Journalist Büşra Cebeci said that she encountered digital violence for the first time during the Gezi Park protests. Noting that cyberbullying can be very hurtful, Cebeci stated that digital attacks on social media often occur when a journalist reports on headscarved women and/or conservative families, refugees, sports events, particularly football, and lately about anti-vaxxers. Cebeci said: “Instead of coming up with a counter argument, they choose to attack us, especially men. They are trying to weaken our presence in the public arena. They are trying to intimidate us. But in the face of all these attacks, I do not intend to give up journalism or using social media.”

Cebeci added that journalists are sometimes pushed to digital violence by their employer: “As a journalist, I was never asked to seek comments from perpetrators of violence, harassment, rape, etc. in any media institution I worked for before. But a former manager in a media outlet I worked for for some time once asked me to interview a lawyer who was accused of sexually harassing his female interns. I was normally going to conduct an interview with one of the interns who had reached out to me and wanted to disclose the harassment. But even though my manager at the time knew that it would draw outrage and even though we did not have such an editorial policy, I was pressured by my manager to do the interview for two days.”

Pointing out that digital violence has increased during the Covid-19 pandemic, Cebeci reminded that people are now being subjected to cyberbullying even for sharing on social media that they like a TV show.

Stressing the gender-based discrimination in the media industry, Cebeci added: “We are in a male-dominated sector. When we are faced with an attack, we are criticized for being ‘too fragile’ and the digital attacks we suffer aren’t taken seriously by our superiors. But those people who attack us on social media are real people; they could even be people we come across in real life from time to time and we don't even know what could happen to us if we actually met a person who attacked us on social media.”