Ramallah, July 23rd, 2024. The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) concluded yesterday, Monday, a training course for journalists and media students on the subject of "Protection from Electronic Harassment and Blackmail" at the "Palestine Plaza" Hotel in the city of Ramallah, as part of the project "Strengthening Civic Space and Community Accountability in Palestine" funded by the European Union Office in the city of Jerusalem.
The training course was held on Sunday and Monday with the participation of 15 journalists, for 8 training hours. It aimed to introduce students and workers in the media sector to the concept of electronic harassment and blackmail as one of the various forms of violence that may accompany journalistic work.
The course was opened by welcoming the participants by the Acting Director of MADA, Ms. Shireen Al-Khatib, who explained the importance of a deep understanding of the issue of electronic harassment and blackmail by journalists in light of technological progress that has changed the nature of the traditional form of this behavior, as a result of the spread of cyberspace and the widespread use of social media, which has facilitated the possibility of increasing the number of victims of electronic harassment and blackmail.
The training, which lasted for the past two days, focused on journalistic work, its pillars, controls, and forms of violence associated with it. The trainer, Ms. Farah Selmi, also addressed the legal and social dimensions of the crime of harassment and electronic blackmail, the concept of cyberspace, and violence in cyberspace, its forms and risks in general, in addition to sexual harassment, its definition, and electronic blackmail and its various types in particular. She also delved extensively into the concept of digital crime and what is meant by it, and how to distinguish it from traditional crimes. She explained to the participants what are the different forms of crimes in the cyber world.
The training also addressed the issue of violence against female journalists and its various forms as a global scourge facing female journalists on the Internet while performing their media work, the foundations of protection and prevention, and the formulation of strategies for responding to attacks of electronic harassment and blackmail.
The participants expressed the great benefit gained from this training, as it allowed them to learn about many topics and concepts that will enable them to confront the problems they may encounter in the future in their work, especially female journalists.
They also recommended increasing the number of similar training sessions on a wider scale and increasing the number of training days to delve deeper into the topic of electronic harassment and blackmail.
At the end of the training course, certificates of participation were distributed to all trainees.
