How to respond to online abuse, censorship and extremism?

# 1: Perspective

Two-thirds of US internet users have witnessed harassment or bullying online. Perspective is an API (Application Programming Interface) that uses machine learning to identify toxic language. The moderation of online comments poses a challenge to publishers of all sizes, such as how to filter out hateful or harassing comments and create a safe space for public conversations. The New York Times for instance has used Perspective to more than double the number of articles with comments, including opening comments on the front page.


#2: Outline

Journalists need safe access to information to research issues, communicate with sources, and report the news. Outline is an open source tool that allows news organizations provide their network of journalists with safer access to the open internet.


#3: Intra

Intra is an Android app that protects against DNS (Domain Name System) manipulation. DNS manipulation is a powerful cyberweapon that can be used to block websites and apps, redirect people to phishing sites, or even force people to download malware. Most of the world lives in places where the internet is at least partially censored, and DNS manipulation is one of the most common forms of online censorship.


#4: Project Shield

DDoS attacks have become a powerful tool for censoring small and mid-level publishers, and attacks totaled 7.5 million in 2017. Project Shield is a service that uses Google technology to protect news, election information and political organizations from DDoS attacks. Shield not only defended the premier security blog against the then-largest DDoS attack in history, but it also now protects hundreds of sites in dozens of nations around the world.


#5: Redirect Method

Extremist groups like ISIS are increasingly turning to the internet to spread their messages and recruit new members. The Redirect Method reaches vulnerable audiences through targeted advertising, and redirects them to online videos that refute ISIS's recruitment messaging. In the pilot experiment it reached more than 300,000 people and drove more than half a million minutes of video viewing time.


#6: Password Alert

For the activists we’ve met, having their password stolen can be devastating. Password Alert is a Chrome extension that alerts you if a website is trying to steal your password. For most of us, stolen passwords can be a nuisance or result in the theft of sensitive information, but for journalists and activists who work in sensitive environments, the consequences can be far more severe.


#7: Digital Attack Map

One of the easiest ways to silence someone online is a distributed denial of service attack (DDoS). Digital Attack Map visualizes the most powerful DDoS attacks happening in the world right now, using data from our partner Arbor Networks. DAM also highlights events in the real world that might correlate with digital attacks, such as armed conflicts or political disputes.


#8: Unfiltered.News

One of the greatest threats to free expression is censorship you can’t see. Unfiltered.News maps what important news stories might not be covered in your country, using the Google News corpus to allow internet users to discover which stories are being covered in certain locations, how different countries cover stories differently, and how issue coverage changes over time.


#9: Montage

For researchers who investigate war crimes, the ability to sort through hundreds of hours of video footage can be the difference between finding evidence of atrocities and missing the crucial detail. Montage gives researchers the tools to analyze vast amounts of YouTube footage and has been particularly effective in reviewing footage from conflict zones such as Syria. For instance, The Carter Center uses Montage to update its real-time mapping of the Syrian conflict.


#10: Protect Your Election

Protect Your Election is a suite of free tools for publishers, journalists, NGOs, and election monitoring sites to help protect election information from digital attacks. As well as Project Shield and the Chrome extension Password Alert, another tool offered by PYE is 2-Step Verification, which provides an extra layer of defense to keep your account secure.


#11: Investigative Dashboard

For investigative journalists, financial records are the clues that reveal government corruption or crimes. Investigative Dashboard makes public documents (such as financial or property records) searchable and more useful for journalists investigating money laundering or corruption. The tool, created in partnership with OCCRP, also allows researchers and journalists to work collaboratively, creating a platform for data-driven investigations. It was recently used as part of the investigation of the Panama Papers, revealing a global network widespread financial fraud and money laundering.