ABSTRACT
Harassment and other forms of violence towards media workers are increasing online. Both academic and international organisations have called for far-reaching measures to protect journalists subjected to intimidation while using social media platforms. However, research reveals an uptick in hostility towards media professionals. In this chapter, we argue that recognising the relationship between digital labour and the precariousness of working conditions in journalism is key to understanding the spread of online harassment against the press. The easiness with which hate and misinformation spread online targeting journalists' private and professional lives is but the result of a lack of an infrastructure that guards them against harassment. To assess how platforms afford violence targeted at journalists, we looked at the dynamics of hashtags and their impact on reach and audience engagement. We analysed Facebook pages and Instagram accounts that used two hashtags relating to anti-press sentiment in the Chilean political sphere: #prensabasura (#garbagepress) and #apagael13 (#turnoffchannel13). Our analyses show how there is still a modest but relatively thriving community of pages (Facebook) and accounts (Instagram) involved in the use and amplification of the anti-press #prensabasura and #apagael13 tags. Many influential and often partisan Facebook pages and Instagram accounts are complicit in amplifying misinformation and, as an extension, the digital harassment of journalists or the press as an institution.
