PEN America launches Online Harassment Field Manual
The US civil liberties group created the new resource for writers and journalists after a survey revealed the extent to which trolls cause them to self-censor their work
A rapid rise in the trolling of US writers and journalists has led civil liberties group PEN America to create a “field guide” for dealing with the problem. It follows a survey of writers that found online harassment was posing a “significant threat to free speech”.
The survey revealed that two-thirds of trolled writers had responded to the abuse by refraining from publishing their work and deleting their social media accounts. They also said they feared for their personal safety as a result of the abuse. Over a third of respondents – who include leading US authors and journalists – said trolling had led them to avoid controversial topics in their writing.
Our goal is to equip writers and their allies with resources to push back against online hatred
