{"id":29344,"date":"2025-06-17T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/?p=29344"},"modified":"2025-06-17T10:35:57","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T14:35:57","slug":"when-digital-spaces-become-unsafe-guidance-about-online-harassment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/2025\/06\/17\/when-digital-spaces-become-unsafe-guidance-about-online-harassment\/","title":{"rendered":"When Digital Spaces Become Unsafe: Guidance about Online Harassment"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"A woman sits in front of a laptop with her head in her hands, surrounded by graffiti-style sad and distressed emoji faces on a chalkboard-like wall.\" class=\"wp-image-29345\" srcset=\"https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury-400x266.jpg 400w, https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury-665x443.jpg 665w, https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo from Adobe Stock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In today\u2019s highly polarized and politicized society, online harassment is an escalating concern, including within higher education. Because digital platforms are central to academic research, engagement, and student life; faculty, staff, and students are increasingly vulnerable to targeted attacks that threaten their safety and well-being.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aacu.org\/research\/academic-freedom-and-civil-discourse-in-higher-education-a-national-study-of-faculty-attitudes-and-perceptions\">2023-2024 survey<\/a> of U.S. higher ed faculty by the American Association of Colleges and Universities found that \u201cCompared with six or seven years ago, or when they first joined the faculty at their current institution, just over half of all faculty (53%) are more worried today that their beliefs or activities as faculty members may make them targets of online harassment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response to this disconcerting trend, the Safe Computing website offers a wide variety of guidance on how to <a href=\"https:\/\/safecomputing.umich.edu\/protect-yourself\/be-safe-online\/online-harassment\">Protect Yourself From Online Harassment<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/safecomputing.umich.edu\/protect-yourself\/be-safe-online\/practice-online-hygiene\">Practice Online Hygiene<\/a>, including tips on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Reducing personal information online.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Controlling unwanted interactions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Securing personal devices and accounts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reporting harassment and getting support.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition, the Provost\u2019s Office provides faculty-focused resources:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/provost.umich.edu\/responding-to-threats-and-harassment-against-faculty\/\">Responding to Threats and Harassment of Faculty<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/provost.umich.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/Guide-to-Addressing-Harassment-of-Faculty_-Protocols-Tips-and-Resources.pdf\">Guide to Managing Threats and Harassment&nbsp;<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/provost.umich.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/U-M-Faculty-Threats-and-Harassment-Resources.pdf\">U-M Faculty Threats and Harassment Resources<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Take advantage of all these resources to help safeguard your digital presence today, and share with others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In today\u2019s highly polarized and politicized society, online harassment is an escalating concern including within higher education. Because digital platforms are central to academic research, engagement, and student life; faculty, staff, and students are increasingly vulnerable to targeted attacks that threaten their safety and well-being.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":223,"featured_media":29345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_umich_oidc_access":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1155,1154],"class_list":["post-29344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-safe-computing","tag-online-safety","tag-safety"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury.jpg",1500,1000,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury-400x266.jpg",400,266,true],"medium":["https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury-768x512.jpg",665,443,true],"large":["https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury-600x400.jpg",600,400,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury.jpg",1500,1000,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury.jpg",1500,1000,false],"excerpt-thumbnail":["https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury-200x140.jpg",200,140,true],"themonic-thumbnail":["https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury-60x42.jpg",60,42,true],"ioslider-thumbnail":["https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury-658x300.jpg",658,300,true],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury-665x443.jpg",665,443,true],"400x250-crop":["https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AdobeStock_916064645-Tabassum-Chowdhury-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Tabassum Chowdhury, ITS Privacy Office Intern","author_link":"https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/author\/tabac\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"In today\u2019s highly polarized and politicized society, online harassment is an escalating concern including within higher education. Because digital platforms are central to academic research, engagement, and student life; faculty, staff, and students are increasingly vulnerable to targeted attacks that threaten their safety and well-being.\u00a0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29344"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29350,"href":"https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29344\/revisions\/29350"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigan.it.umich.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}