Recommendations What is cyber hate

Document and save everything that can be used to investigate what has happened.

Guide: Gather digital evidence 

Check out our guide. 

Put your mental health first. Sometimes, it can be important to take a break from social media accounts. Let someone else take care of or clear out your social media.

Support and help 

If you suspect that it is happening because of who you are based on race/ethnicity, religion, sex, transgender identity or expression, disability, sexuality or age – it can be unlawful discrimination, sexual harassment, a hate crime or hate speech.

Hate crimes 

Harassment

If you suspect your information has leaked: block the card in question, check your bank statements, collect digital evidence, and contact the card issuer.

Guide to saving digital evidence. 

Get help from the people around you. You do not have to be alone in this. Cyber hate falls within the responsibility of the employer, school, association or organization.

Support and help.

Never answer in affect. Don't answer the person who is attacking you by attacking them back. Just ask them to stop. A lot of the time you don't want to answer at all, which is more than understandable. But to file a police report, it can be important that you can prove that you asked the person to stop, even when it comes to sexual harassment.

Your operating system and your browser (safari, chrome, firefox, internet explorer, etc.) also need to be regularly updated to have the latest security updates.

You're not alone. If you want help dealing with cyber hate in the comment section, contact the facebook group #jagärhär to get help and support from the good forces at work for a good and open internet climate.

#jagärhär's facebook page 

Use credit reporting services that text message or send physical letters when a credit report is made on your social security number.

Make sure it is not possible to access your paper mail. Also, be sure to destroy important papers before you throw them in the trash or recycling.

Check if they have existed for a long time or gotten positive reviews.

File a police report, even if it does not lead to a charge, it’s important to report so that statistics can show that the internet is for real.

File a police report

Use a secure connection to the web server. You can do this by checking the URL. If it starts with https, it is often safe, but not guaranteed. You can also look for a locked padlock at the bottom of the screen. If you feel even slightly unsure, never give out sensitive information.

Remove your information on the internet 

Do not answer in affect. Do not answer the person who is attacking you by attacking that person back. In situations of a media witch-hunt, this is particularly important because strong responses can intensify the witch-hunt.

Media witch-hunt

If you read offensive and inappropriate posts or comments on social media, you can always report this to the administrators

When someone shares an article on Facebook, you can click on the i-symbol to the right and “Show more information about this link”. You will then receive information about the website/news page that is linked.

If you see advertisements in your feed - click on the three dots at the upper right of the advertisement and select "Why am I seeing this?" to get more information about why Facebook decided to show you the ad, and who might have paid for the advertisement.

Guide: Source criticism

If you experience mistreatment in your work, your employer always has investigative responsibility. File a report right away. Refer to the labor law. Support and help.

Make time for recovery. Being subjected to threats requires time and processing. Follow up on how you are feeling. The shock may come much later.

Even if it can be difficult or threatening, it may be good to ask the person to stop or stop trying to contact you. Do not do this if you feel like it will put your safety at risk. The reason this is important is because when you file a police report, it is often required that you have made the person understand that their behavior is unwanted. However, for women and other marginalized groups, especially trans people, it can be dangerous to speak up and say no. Trust your instinct. Contact the police or other support services right away.

Cut out parts of the text, put them in quotation marks ("like this") and search for them in google to find if the text has been posted anywhere else.

Is it possible that marginalized voices are not represented?

If people or groups are presented as two-dimensional (ie that a group is “like this”). You can question this by asking the person the basis for the statement, possible reasons for the statement, or point out what is disrespectful/offensive/discriminatory about the statement.

As a member of an organization or an association, they have the responsibility for you and the cyber hate that can occur as a result of the membership. If they don't have action plans for the internet, they should deal with that right away.

Organizations can get help with this work 

If you aren't heard, there is support and help to continue this process 

Never click unknown links in an email without first checking out the sender!

If you are not listened to, there are many special interest organizations that work specifically with the grounds of discrimination or minority perspectives. Move forward and seek support from these organizations, you are not alone! It's common that minority perspectives are not understood, this is called gaslighting.

Our support page is organized based on different issues, check out who you should contact

Gaslighting

Do not be alone. Even if the threats are online, they can have consequences offline. Make sure you're not alone.

Support and help

If sensitive information has spread via a program on your computer, clean out your computer right away. You can do this with an ad-aware program.

Being the victim of abuse is never your fault. You can never have said, hinted at, or shown yourself in any way that gives another person the right to abuse you. Even if you are in a relationship with the person or you know them, it is still a crime and you have the right to protection and help.

Support and help

Report directly to the school and contact your guardians. Even if they think it is bullying, it can be harassment according to the law. Make sure you get the right support and investigation.

Crimes on the internet

Find out which situations and at what time the picture has appeared.

Guide: How to find the source of images 

Always report to the police. With enough evidence, you can be eligible for protective measures, like a restraining order.

Police report 

If you want to respond or give comebacks, at the Cyber Hate Assistant, we think that you should. You have the right to stand up for yourself. We want to advise you not to write in affect, but instead to take a micro-pause from the situation and think about what you want to answer. Read through your text one more time before publishing. Partly because we are all active in creating the conversation culture on the internet – inclusive conversations are something we all should contribute to. And partly because of the fact that if someone violates or harasses you on the internet and you answer them in the same way in affect – their behavior stops being a criminal act.

Don't answer! It can escalate the situation and make the legal process more difficult. Always file a police report.

Guide: Remove pictures, videos, or other sensitive information

Guide: Remove your address and telephone number online

You can always remove other people's comments from your posts or pictures on social media. You can even remove or edit your own comments on other people's posts.

If you want to know who owns a website, there are services to help. Foreign URLs can be found at http://www.whois.com. Swedish URLs (those ending in .se or .nu) can be found at http://www.iis.se.

If it happens because of who you are based on race/ethnicity, religion, sex, transgender identity or expression, disability, sexuality or age – it can be unlawful discrimination, sexual harassment, a hate crime or hate speech.

Hate crimes 

Harassment 

Bullying can be harassment according to the law, make sure you get the correct support and investigation. At the Cyber Hate Assistant and Make Equal, we see that bullying is just another word for harassment. If you don't get any support, take it further!

Help and support

Use simple and clear language, trying to sound smarter than the hunter is not a good idea.

The truth is unfortunately less important in a media witch-hunt.

Media witch-hunts are built on a general idea that you have done something wrong. Looking for sympathy will often have the opposite effect.

Be transparent. Stick to clear, simple, and correct answers.

If you're exposed to cyber hate, always contact the administrator. They have the responsibility for removing things that violate their rules.

Källkritikbyrån (the source criticism agency) is a website and a project aiming at helping people to become more confident and aware online users. Here, you can find inspiration and facts about source criticism on the Internet. The website contains insights related to source criticism and guides on what you can do in different situations.