Less talk, more action: how to improve online culture

It takes courage to sign up for a public role. But these days, that courage is often rewarded with vicious attacks of leaders on social media.

Journalists and reporters face abuse on social media while on the job, and they can’t find a simple way to navigate the reporting process.

Politicians are harassed at in-person events, given bullet proof vests to wear on the campaign trail, and share the impact toxic Tweets have for them in the moment and over time.

Sports organizations struggle to mitigate the performance issues social media abuse causes for their athletes and the damage it causes to their fan engagement in their online communities.

This culture makes it hard to attract top talent and diverse representation to public life, which results in us all losing critical perspectives.

Toxicity on Twitter, Facebook and other platforms permits some of us to let loose our worst instincts. We fall victim to displaying tribal behaviour, instead of pro social behaviour. This has a negative impact on the health of the people we rely on to lead our society, share critical news and information, and bring us joy through sport and storytelling. This needs to change.

In Canada, the issue of online abuse has been discussed more than ever in our public conversation over the past few weeks. It is now imperative that we move past talk, and get to action.

Legislation is forthcoming, but has stalled. This issue is complex. To expect a government to solve it completely with one regulation is unrealistic. The U.K. and Australia are further ahead with legislation designed to address the issue of online abuse, which attempts to balance online safety with protecting freedom of speech. Canada can implement the strongest parts of these legislations, including the creation of an eSafety commissioner, creating basic online safety expectations for platforms, and applying fines to companies who fail to meet their expectations.

However, we know from how this issue has played out in the U.K. and Australia that legislation alone won’t fix it. When situations like this arise, we need all organizations involved to come to the table and play a role.

This, of course, includes the big tech company platforms themselves. Holding social media companies accountable is important, but they know all too well how big and difficult an issue this is, and their attempts to put in place safeguards and tools is stymied by their profit incentive.

That’s because social media is not one big monolithic place. It’s millions of micro communities, full of people trying to connect, share and belong. Often, these communities are deliberately cultivated by organizations that want to derive value from digital social connection for their bottom lines and missions. The people who work for them become public figures and are the ones on the front lines, performing the emotional labour of connecting, and now, more than ever, defending: journalists, politicians, athletes, influencers, public health officials, academics...the list goes on.

The solution must bring together the organizations that benefit and get value from their micro community to collectively decide this is a problem worth solving and to get to work in solving it. We’re finally making progress recognizing and bringing awareness to the problem. We’re barely scratching the surface when it comes to practically solving it.

So let’s outline what needs to happen to truly solve this issue.

First, the federal government needs to create laws that protect citizens from abuse.

Second, in the short term, platforms must make it easier to report toxicity, and work with law enforcement to charge people under those laws.

In the long term, platforms must start to change the algorithms that polarize us to nudge people away from negativity and towards respectful language.

Third, organizations need to have a higher standard for duty of care for their employees and take accountability for doing something to mitigate the impacts of the abuse and harassment their people face on the job, when that job includes a public profile on social media.

Finally, the public needs to be educated on the impact their words can have, both positive and negative. If we can create digital communities that feel safe enough, engaged citizens will feel more confident and able to stand up for their fellow citizens. They–we–could be our most powerful opportunity for countering online abuse and harms.

Law enforcement, employers, social media companies, small businesses that provide solutions - each has a role to play, and they all must work together to implement solutions and consult with those most affected by online toxicity and abuse.

Enough is enough. Not only are there solutions, but there is a huge opportunity buried in this toxic sludge. When we turn our attention to creatively and collectively solving this together, we can move past just eliminating the problem and make digital communities more positive, more inclusive, and safer.