Misogyny and domestic abuse are old problems, but tech companies have enabled these harms to grow and proliferate on their platforms in new forms, such as social media harassment, cyberstalking, and deepfake intimate image abuse. This talk will summarise my work to build better systems for survivors of online gender-based violence across academia, advocacy, and policy. In my DPhil, I argued that due to its engineering focus on defending networks and information, cybersecurity neglects the human element, and particularly differences in power and relationships between humans that produce (in)security. I developed a new method, participatory threat modelling, which brings marginalised people and civil society groups into the process of systematically assessing digital security threats. As a part of the work, I co-founded a research collective named re:configure, which ran feminist digital security workshops with groups such as survivors of intimate image abuse, environmental activists, and migrant domestic workers. After my PhD, I worked at the online safety charity Glitch, I managed the delivery of and co-authored a quantitative research study on digital misogynoir (hate directed at Black women) across multiple tech platforms, including Meta, X/Twitter, and 4chan. I am now working as Senior Associate at Ofcom, the regulator in charge of implementing the UK’s Online Safety Act, to put this evidence into guidance for industry on online violence against women and girls.
