Section outline
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Unfortunately, counter or alternative narrative campaigning can have security implications. Activities connected to countering violent extremism carry some degree of risk because of the subject matter and the audiences you may be targeting. Online activities could raise your profile and cause you to be targeted for your work. Avoid antagonizing or simply being controversial for the sake of it. Make sure you consider whether you need to take any safety measures to protect those working on or contributing to your campaign, including your messenger. If you plan to reach out to members of extreme groups, consider how sophisticated the extremist group is. Are they capable of identifying your involvement? Do you have contingency plans in place if you receive a direct threat online? Also remember, humor may be objective to the eye of the beholder and may be misunderstood. It is important to consider how your message can be misunderstood or misperceived by stakeholders.
When preparing a counter narrative, it is crucial that human rights values, principles and characteristics are ensured throughout the action. The oppressive narrative should not be combated by reproducing it or using other oppressive narratives.
So, what are common security concerns when creating a counter or alternative narrative campaign?
Source: Institute for Strategic Dialogue. “The Counter Narrative Handbook’ Institute for Strategic Dialogue.” 2016. https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Counter-narrative-Handbook_1.pdf.
Staying Safe on Social Media
It is nearly impossible to completely rely on social media platforms to keep all of your information safe and to remove potential predatory accounts. Developers, IT workers, marketers, and countless other people can see even your most intimate messages and media. And because most of these companies store big data indefinitely, your conversations today or yesterday can still be threatened years in the future.
It is becoming more common for adverse users to impersonate your profile, using your name, profile images and personal information. When someone uses your images on fake profiles, others may attribute anything found on that profile to you. This could be in the forms of scams, fraudulent offers, pornographic material, requests for money, catfishing accounts, or online trolls. The worrying part is that all of these undesirable actions are under the umbrella of your face and image!
Other fake accounts want to embarrass the person whose photos they’re stealing with hateful or disturbing comments. Families and relationships can be ripped apart when one spouse thinks another is cheating all because someone stole their partner’s identity on social media accounts!
What to do when someone created a fake account with your information?
Contact the Website: While you could just immediately block the fake account, don’t. First, report the page or account to the website host. Explain that someone has created a fake account with your photographs/ images. If the site or app contacts you to verify your information, respond promptly.
Save the Fake Account’s Username or Link: Make sure that you cut/copy the link (if it’s a Facebook account, for instance) or the username for Instagram, Twitter, etc. That way you can search it out and see if the account has been removed.
Search: You can search your photographs through websites such as Berify or Google Images. This will scan the entire web and all major search engines. This can be helpful to see whether someone has created any other accounts. Once a scammer uses your photographs, they may set up multiple fake accounts and give you a web trail you didn’t intend.
Here are 10 additional ways to your data safe:
- Don’t share personal information
- Double-check and verify links
- Use secure public Wi-Fi
- Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN)
- Only log into sites that start with https://
- Be careful who you chat with
- Turn off your Bluetooth
- Use antivirus software
- Use secure passwords, meaning one that is hard for a user or program to try to guess. Try creating a complex, long password instead of using a birthday, anniversary, pet name, etc.
- Backup your data to prevent accidental data loss, corruption, and unauthorized access.
Browse Safely and Anonymously
Websites that you visit collect data such as demographics, intimate interests and tastes, personal habits and hobbies. This enormous amount of personal data could include sensitive information like credit card data, physical location, sexual preferences, religion, health and others. To mitigate data collection, browse anonymously online - this can include using HTTP encryption. Cookies are files created by websites you visit. They make your online experience easier by saving browsing information. With cookies, sites can keep you signed in, remember your site preferences, and give you locally relevant content. While you probably want to allow some of the useful cookies on shopping portals and other websites, it’s definitely a good idea to block all third-party cookies. Left unchecked, your cookies will feed personal data to private companies. Cookie settings can be changed directly in your browser settings.
Be conscious of potential risks in any given context online. One of the best things to ask yourself is “If this was hacked, how would it impact my life?” Thinking along these lines mean that YOU can dictate the security and privacy of your digital life. A majority of hacking incidents do not require highly technical skills. Malicious people often rely on simple schemes to trick people in giving up their information, including passwords, emails and other private information. While we know that websites sometimes require you to enter information to gain access, think critically about what information is needed versus what information is too much. Don’t be afraid to make up information either!
What about doxing? Doxing is a term derived from the phrase ‘document-sharing.’ Doxing is revealing personal or identifying documents or details online about someone without their consent. This can include personal information such as a person’s home address, real name, children’s names, phone numbers and email address. A violation of a person’s privacy, the aim of doxing is to distress, panic and otherwise cause alarm.
Here are some tips to prevent hacking:
- Do not login to websites from a link in an email
- Always install software updates as soon as possible
- Try not to login to websites via Facebook, Twitter, or Google
- Do not trust emails asking for personal information, survey data, or anything else that could reveal info about you, no matter how professional they look.
- Be careful using public Wi-Fi
Be aware of the presence of online ‘bots’. A bot, short for robot and also called an internet bot, is a computer program that operates as an agent (decision making entity) for a user or other program or to simulate a human activity. Bots are normally used to automate certain tasks, meaning they can run without specific instructions from humans. These may skew results and give a misleading picture of impact and reach.
How do I know if I am interacting with a bot? While it is not always possible to know, here are some signs that you may be interacting with a bot:
- User profile: The most common way to tell if an account is fake is to check out the profile. The most rudimentary bots lack a photo, a link, or any bio. More sophisticated ones might use a photo stolen from the web, or an automatically generated account name.
- Syntax: Using human language is still incredibly hard for machines. A bot’s posts may reveal its algorithmic logic - they may be formulaic or repetitive or use responses common in chatbot programs. Missing an obvious joke and rapidly changing the subject are other telltale traits (unfortunately, they are also quite common among human social media users).
- Post semantics: Bots are usually created with a particular end in mind, so they may be overly obsessed with a particular topic, perhaps reposting the same link again and again or posting about little else.
- Temporal behavior: Looking at tweets over time can also be revealing. If an account posts at an impossible rate, at unlikely times, or even too regularly, that can be a good sign that it’s fake. Researchers also found that fake accounts often betray an inconsistent attitude toward topics over time.
- Network features: Network dynamics aren’t visible to most users, but they can reveal a lot about an account. Bots may follow only a few accounts or be followed by many other bots. The tone of a bot’s posts may also be incongruous with those of its connections, suggesting a lack of any real social interaction.
Watch out for your opponents!
There will be people who oppose your counter-narrative campaign and work. As a result, they may try to serve as a disrupter to your work, including through many of the ways listed above. It is essential to take specific safety measures to ensure your opponents cannot disrupt your campaign - or cause a safety concern to you and those around you.
