Joint PEN statement on online harassment
Update - 1 August 2022
“PEN International stands for freedom of expression. For almost one hundred years we have stood with all groups and individuals who are silenced and harassed, and have defended their right to be able to talk and write freely about identity and oppression without fear. To reference a discussion currently being enacted on social media, the ability to write or speak freely without harassment stands as much for trans writers defending their rights as it does for JK Rowling. PEN has always called for a world where the rights of all are respected. We acknowledge that many have not been the ones to tell their own stories and we believe in imaginative freedom so writers may write the books they want to write.”
Across the world online harassment is on the rise[1], exacerbated by our hyper-digital environment and accelerated by a global pandemic. As an organisation committed to working towards the ‘ideal of one humanity living in peace and equality in one world’, PEN stands firmly against both offline and online harassment.
As social media increasingly serves as a forum to exchange and debate ideas, a culture in which harassment has become the norm across the ideological spectrum is a culture that not only harms those directly affected, but damages public debate by suppressing and silencing voices - including those already underrepresented in public life - and degrades our wider discourse.
Any discussion of freedom of expression must also be a discussion of power – one that takes into account the scale and ubiquity of digital platforms, current and historic inequalities and the dynamics at play among groups attempting to contribute to public discourse.
Online harassment often disproportionately affects specific groups of people, including, but not limited to, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, religious minorities and people who experience racism[2]. It is no coincidence that the groups most severely and frequently harassed online are among those who have been subjected to the most significant levels of violence offline[3].
We support the right to hold and express strong views, provided that such expression does not undermine the internationally recognised human rights of others, incite hatred, nor engender the threat or use of violence. It is right and proper that viewpoints are held up to rigorous scrutiny - free expression ensures that each of us is able to challenge ideas we question or disagree with. Strong and vocal disagreement is an essential way to challenge statements which undermine the human rights of others.
We wholeheartedly support such robust debate of ideas, but we believe it is crucial to distinguish between meaningful criticism and gratuitous harassment (which degrades or intimidates a person or group). We are listening to and taking seriously those with experience of harassment and working with organisations to better support and protect individuals facing harassment. Additionally we will continue to put pressure on platforms to better protect and support users facing harassment, and collaborate to study and draw attention to this issue so as to understand how best to identify and safely confront harassment when it occurs, and support those individuals or groups undergoing harassment.
Freedom of speech is not freedom from the responsibilities of speech. As such, we call on all our members to recall one of the foundations of the PEN Charter and ‘use what influence they have in favour of good understanding and mutual respect’[4].
PEN International
PEN America
PEN Argentina
PEN Canada
Centro PEN de Escritores Cubanos en el Exilio
English PEN
PEN Estonia
PEN Guadalajara
PEN Haiti
Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann
PEN Nicaragua
PEN Norway
PEN Puerto Rico
PEN Paraguay
PEN Quebec
Scottish PEN
PEN Sierra Leone
PEN South Africa
PEN Sweden
PEN Uruguay
Wales PEN Cymru
PEN Zimbabwe
References
[1] https://hbr.org/2020/06/youre-not-pzowerless-in-the-face-of-online-harassment
[2] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2018/03/online-violence-against-women-chapter-3/ and https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/apr/12/the-dark-side-of-guardian-comments
[3] For example, in the UK, the majority of hate crimes were race hate crimes in 2018/19 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/839172/hate-crime-1819-hosb2419.pdf); one in five LGBTQ+ people have experienced a hate crime or incident in the last twelve months, rising to two in five transgender people who have experienced the same (https://www.stonewall.org.uk/lgbt-britain-hate-crime-and-discrimination); one in three women will experience domestic abuse and/or sexual assault during her lifetime (https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2019/03/07/violence-against-women-and-girls-and-male-position-factsheets/).
[4] https://pen-international.org/who-we-are/the-pen-charter
Across the world online harassment is on the rise[1], exacerbated by our hyper-digital environment and accelerated by a global pandemic. As an organisation committed to working towards the ‘ideal of one humanity living in peace and equality in one world’, PEN stands firmly against both offline and online harassment.
As social media increasingly serves as a forum to exchange and debate ideas, a culture in which harassment has become the norm across the ideological spectrum is a culture that not only harms those directly affected, but damages public debate by suppressing and silencing voices - including those already underrepresented in public life - and degrades our wider discourse.
Any discussion of freedom of expression must also be a discussion of power – one that takes into account the scale and ubiquity of digital platforms, current and historic inequalities and the dynamics at play among groups attempting to contribute to public discourse.
Online harassment often disproportionately affects specific groups of people, including, but not limited to, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, religious minorities and people who experience racism[2]. It is no coincidence that the groups most severely and frequently harassed online are among those who have been subjected to the most significant levels of violence offline[3].
We support the right to hold and express strong views, provided that such expression does not undermine the internationally recognised human rights of others, incite hatred, nor engender the threat or use of violence. It is right and proper that viewpoints are held up to rigorous scrutiny - free expression ensures that each of us is able to challenge ideas we question or disagree with. Strong and vocal disagreement is an essential way to challenge statements which undermine the human rights of others.
We wholeheartedly support such robust debate of ideas, but we believe it is crucial to distinguish between meaningful criticism and gratuitous harassment (which degrades or intimidates a person or group). We are listening to and taking seriously those with experience of harassment and working with organisations to better support and protect individuals facing harassment. Additionally we will continue to put pressure on platforms to better protect and support users facing harassment, and collaborate to study and draw attention to this issue so as to understand how best to identify and safely confront harassment when it occurs, and support those individuals or groups undergoing harassment.
Freedom of speech is not freedom from the responsibilities of speech. As such, we call on all our members to recall one of the foundations of the PEN Charter and ‘use what influence they have in favour of good understanding and mutual respect’[4].
PEN International
PEN America
PEN Argentina
PEN Canada
Centro PEN de Escritores Cubanos en el Exilio
English PEN
PEN Estonia
PEN Guadalajara
PEN Haiti
Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann
PEN Nicaragua
PEN Norway
PEN Puerto Rico
PEN Paraguay
PEN Quebec
Scottish PEN
PEN Sierra Leone
PEN South Africa
PEN Sweden
PEN Uruguay
Wales PEN Cymru
PEN Zimbabwe
References
[1] https://hbr.org/2020/06/youre-not-powerless-in-the-face-of-online-harassment
[2] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2018/03/online-violence-against-women-chapter-3/ and https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/apr/12/the-dark-side-of-guardian-comments
[3] For example, in the UK, the majority of hate crimes were race hate crimes in 2018/19 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/839172/hate-crime-1819-hosb2419.pdf); one in five LGBTQ+ people have experienced a hate crime or incident in the last twelve months, rising to two in five transgender people who have experienced the same (https://www.stonewall.org.uk/lgbt-britain-hate-crime-and-discrimination); one in three women will experience domestic abuse and/or sexual assault during her lifetime (https://homeofficemedia.blog.gov.uk/2019/03/07/violence-against-women-and-girls-and-male-position-factsheets/).
[4] https://pen-international.org/who-we-are/the-pen-charter