Infrastructural platform violence

How women and queer journalists and activists in Lebanon experience abuse on WhatsApp

Bibliographic Data

ID6443638
AuthorsMartin J Riedl (0000-0003-2411-1998, The University of Tennessee, USA; The University of Texas at Austin, USA), Azza El-Masri (0009-0008-9998-3567, The University of Texas at Austin, corresponding author), Inga K Trauthig (0000-0001-8479-7894, The University of Texas at Austin), Samuel C Woolley (0000-0002-2619-7628, The University of Texas at Austin)
Year2024
Volume27
Issue9
Pages5045-5064
Publication date2024-04-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Media & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1461-4448 • E-ISSN: 1461-7315
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14614448241248372
OpenAlexW4395462853
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited45

Technology-facilitated abuse and violence disproportionately affect marginalized people. While researchers have explored this issue in the context of public-facing social media platforms, less is known about how it plays out on more private messaging apps. This study draws on in-depth interviews with women and queer journalists and activists in Lebanon to illustrate their experiences of infrastructural platform violence on WhatsApp. Specifically, we distinguish between identity-based violence propagated on platforms, and violence propagated by platforms due to infrastructural neglect of vulnerable populations. Our results document how perpetrators employ the affordances of WhatsApp in harmful ways. We highlight the individual emotional and reputational toll of doxxing and harassment campaigns. The study also showcases the societal ramifications of silencing and self-censorship, as well as infrastructural platform failures. Findings underscore the need to shift attention in platform studies toward populations and geographies whose safety has systemically been neglected by technology companies

Affordance · Context (archaeology · Criminology · Harassment · Neglect · Political science · Public relations · Queer · Social media · Sociology · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Law · Psychology · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology · Social Media and Politics

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access