Online shaming: Difference between revisions

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→‎Animal abuse: Remove cruft as per WP:EXAMPLEFARM. Again, there appears to be no discernment here, these are random and not noteworthy.
→‎Notable examples: This is a WP:EXAMPLEFARM and completely lacking in discernment. Would be happy to have one or two notable examples, but they need to be clearly WP:NOTABLE and one or two is more than sufficient. This article should describe the subject, not provide an indiscriminate list of examples.
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===Government shaming===
===Government shaming===
Various governments have used "name and shame" policies to punish tax evasion,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2015/08/17/govt-says-tax--name-and-shame--off-the-cards.html|title=Government Says Tax Name and Shame Off the Cards|year=2017|publisher=[[Sky News]]|access-date=August 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150817212144/http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2015/08/17/govt-says-tax--name-and-shame--off-the-cards.html|archive-date=2015-08-17|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-17/multinational-tax-avoiders-could-be-named-and-shamed/6701550|title=Leaked Senate report calls for ATO to name and shame multinational tax dodgers|publisher=ABC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firstpost.com/india/bringing-back-black-money-name-shame-alone-wont-work-india-1762437.html|title=Bringing back black money: Why name-and-shame alone won't work in India|work=Firstpost}}</ref> environmental violations<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1659235/green-groups-name-and-shame-chinas-publicly-listed-polluters|title=China's biggest polluting public companies named and shamed by green groups|date=December 9, 2014|work=South China Morning Post}}</ref> and minor crimes like littering.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[CNBC]]|date=April 23, 2015|title=Hong Kong's Name and Shame Litter Campaign|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2015/04/23/hong-kongs-name-and-shame-litter-campaign.html}}</ref> Shaming is also used in the context of regulation by administrative agencies. Regulatory shaming refers to the publication of negative information by [[administrative agencies]] concerning private regulated bodies, mostly Corporations, in order to further public-interest goals.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yadin|first=Sharon|year=2019|title=Regulatory Shaming|journal=Environmental Law (Lewis & Clark)|volume=49|pages=42|ssrn=3290017}}</ref> For instance, [[Regulatory agency|regulatory agencies]] such as the [[Occupational Safety and Health Administration]] send out condemning press releases and use social media to publish workplace safety violations with the names of responsible companies,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yadin|first=Sharon|year=2019|title=Saving Lives Through Shaming|journal=Harvard Business Law Review Online|volume=9|pages=16|ssrn=3381920}}</ref> while the [[Food and Drug Administration]] shames companies for blocking competition in the [[pharmaceutical industry]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yadin|first=Sharon|year=2019|title=Shaming Big Pharma|url=http://yalejreg.com/shaming-big-pharma/|journal=Yale Journal on Regulation Bulletin|volume=36|pages=17}}</ref>
Various governments have used "name and shame" policies to punish tax evasion,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2015/08/17/govt-says-tax--name-and-shame--off-the-cards.html|title=Government Says Tax Name and Shame Off the Cards|year=2017|publisher=[[Sky News]]|access-date=August 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150817212144/http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2015/08/17/govt-says-tax--name-and-shame--off-the-cards.html|archive-date=2015-08-17|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-17/multinational-tax-avoiders-could-be-named-and-shamed/6701550|title=Leaked Senate report calls for ATO to name and shame multinational tax dodgers|publisher=ABC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firstpost.com/india/bringing-back-black-money-name-shame-alone-wont-work-india-1762437.html|title=Bringing back black money: Why name-and-shame alone won't work in India|work=Firstpost}}</ref> environmental violations<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1659235/green-groups-name-and-shame-chinas-publicly-listed-polluters|title=China's biggest polluting public companies named and shamed by green groups|date=December 9, 2014|work=South China Morning Post}}</ref> and minor crimes like littering.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[CNBC]]|date=April 23, 2015|title=Hong Kong's Name and Shame Litter Campaign|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2015/04/23/hong-kongs-name-and-shame-litter-campaign.html}}</ref> Shaming is also used in the context of regulation by administrative agencies. Regulatory shaming refers to the publication of negative information by [[administrative agencies]] concerning private regulated bodies, mostly Corporations, in order to further public-interest goals.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yadin|first=Sharon|year=2019|title=Regulatory Shaming|journal=Environmental Law (Lewis & Clark)|volume=49|pages=42|ssrn=3290017}}</ref> For instance, [[Regulatory agency|regulatory agencies]] such as the [[Occupational Safety and Health Administration]] send out condemning press releases and use social media to publish workplace safety violations with the names of responsible companies,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yadin|first=Sharon|year=2019|title=Saving Lives Through Shaming|journal=Harvard Business Law Review Online|volume=9|pages=16|ssrn=3381920}}</ref> while the [[Food and Drug Administration]] shames companies for blocking competition in the [[pharmaceutical industry]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yadin|first=Sharon|year=2019|title=Shaming Big Pharma|url=http://yalejreg.com/shaming-big-pharma/|journal=Yale Journal on Regulation Bulletin|volume=36|pages=17}}</ref>

==Notable examples==
===Ashley Madison data breach===
{{Main|Ashley Madison data breach}}
[[File:Jules Arsène Garnier - Le supplice des adultères.jpg|thumb|200px|Public humiliation of Ashley Madison users has been argued to be a form of "flogging in the virtual town square".<ref name=orlando/>]]
In July 2015, a group hacked the user data of [[Ashley Madison]], a commercial dating website marketed as helping people have extramarital affairs. In August 2015, over 30 million user account details, including names and email addresses were released publicly.

A variety of security researchers and [[Internet privacy]] activists debated the ethics of the release.<ref name="onthemedia"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theawl.com/2015/08/notes-on-the-ashley-madison-hack|title=Early Notes on the Ashley Madison Hack|publisher=[[The Awl]]|accessdate=August 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150821195556/http://www.theawl.com/2015/08/notes-on-the-ashley-madison-hack|archive-date=2015-08-21|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://onlinejournalismblog.com/2015/07/20/ashley-madison-ethics-journalism-hacked-documents/|title=In the wake of Ashley Madison, towards a journalism ethics of using hacked documents|work=Online Journalism Blog|date=July 20, 2015|accessdate=August 20, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://fortune.com/2015/08/19/ashley-madison-media/|title=Ashley Madison hack: The ethics of naming users |work=Fortune|date=August 19, 2015|accessdate=August 20, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.includesecurity.com/2015/08/forensic-analysis-of-the-AshleyMadison-Hack.html|title=Include Security Blog – As the ROT13 turns….: A light-weight forensic analysis of the AshleyMadison Hack|author=Include Security|work=includesecurity.com|accessdate=August 20, 2015}}</ref>

Clinical psychologists argued that dealing with an affair in a particularly public way increases the hurt for spouses and children.<ref name=gregoire>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ashley-madison-hack-psychological-fallout_55d4afcee4b07addcb44f5d4|title=Ashley Madison Hack Could Have A Devastating Psychological Fallout|author=Credit: Carl Court/Getty Images|date=August 20, 2015|work=HuffPost}}</ref> Carolyn Gregoire argued "[s]ocial media has created an aggressive culture of public shaming in which individuals take it upon themselves to inflict psychological damage" and more often than not, "the punishment goes beyond the scope of the crime."<ref name=gregoire/> [[Charles J. Orlando]], who had joined the site to conduct research concerning women who cheat, said he felt users of the site were anxious the release of sexually explicit messages would humiliate their spouses and children.<ref name=orlando>{{cite web|url=https://www.yahoo.com/style/i-was-hacked-on-ashley-madison-but-its-you-who-124846903673.html|title=I Was Hacked on Ashley Madison – But It's You Who Should Be Ashamed|author=Charles J. Orlando|author-link=Charles J. Orlando|date=July 23, 2015|website=[[Yahoo!]] Style|via=[[Tango Magazine|Your Tango]]|accessdate=October 8, 2015}}</ref> He wrote it is alarming "the [[mob mentality|mob]] that is the Internet is more than willing to serve as judge, jury, and executioner" and members of the site "don't deserve a flogging in the virtual town square with millions of onlookers."<ref name=orlando/>

===Political===
====Justine Sacco incident====
{{tweet
|text = Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white!
|name = Justine Sacco
|username = JustineSacco
|date = December 20, 2013
|ID = 414052561248075776
|unverified = yes
|width = 230px
|reference =<ref>{{cite tweet |last=Sacco |first=Justine |user=JustineSacco |number=414052561248075776 |date=December 20, 2013 |title= Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white! |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221000326/https://twitter.com/JustineSacco/statuses/414052561248075776 |archive-date=December 21, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
}}
In December 2013, Justine Sacco, a woman with 170 Twitter followers, tweeted acerbic jokes during a plane trip from New York to Cape Town, such as "‘Weird German Dude: You’re in First Class. It’s 2014. Get some deodorant.’ — Inner monologue as I inhale BO. Thank God for pharmaceuticals."<ref name="onthemedia"/> and, in [[Heathrow Airport|Heathrow]]; "Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just Kidding. I'm white!" Sacco, a South African herself,<ref name=poyntersacco/> claimed that she intended the tweet to mock American ignorance of South Africa, and in a later interview expressed that her intention was to "mimic—and mock what an actual racist, ignorant person would say."<ref name="NYTM02122015">{{cite news|author1=Ronson, Jon|authorlink1=Jon Ronson|title=How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco's Life|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html|accessdate=February 13, 2015|work=[[The New York Times Magazine]]|date=February 12, 2015}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite news|last1=Choire|first1=Sicha|title=Jon Ronson's 'So You've Been Publicly Shamed'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/19/books/review/jon-ronsons-so-youve-been-publicly-shamed.html|accessdate=May 9, 2015|work=The New York Times|date=April 17, 2015}}</ref> Sacco slept during her 11-hour plane trip, and woke up to find out that she had lost her job and was the number one Twitter topic worldwide, with celebrities and [[new media]] bloggers all over the globe denouncing her and encouraging all their followers to do the same. Sacco's employer, New York internet firm [[IAC (company)|IAC]], declared that she had lost her job as Director of Corporate Communications.<ref name="NYTM02122015" /> People began tweeting "Has Justine landed yet?", expressing [[schadenfreude]] at the loss of her career.<ref name="NYTM02122015"/><ref name="auto"/> [[Sam Biddle]], the [[Gawker Media]] blogger who promoted the #HasJustineLandedYet hashtag, later apologised for his role, admitting that he did so for Internet traffic to his blog,<ref name=poyntersacco/> and noting that "it's easy and thrilling to hate a stranger online."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/journalist-apologizes-for--hasjustinelandedyet-twitter-uproar-after-pr-exec-s-aids-joke-164616178.html|title=Journalist apologizes for #HasJustineLandedYet Twitter uproar after PR exec's AIDS joke|date=December 20, 2014|work=Yahoo News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://observer.com/2014/12/the-internet-rewards-the-meanest-people-most/|title=The Internet Rewards the Meanest People Most|author=Chris Thilk|work=Observer}}</ref>

According to journalist Jon Ronson, the public does not understand that a vigilante campaign of public shaming, undertaken with the ostensible intention of defending the [[Underdog (term)|underdog]], may create a mob mentality capable of destroying the lives and careers of the public figures singled out for shaming.<ref name=onthemedia/> Ronson argued that in the early days of Twitter, people used the platform to share intimate details of their lives, and not as a vehicle of [[Shame society|shaming]]. [[Brooke Gladstone]] argued that the Sacco affair may deter people from expressing themselves online due to a fear of being misinterpreted.<ref name=onthemedia/> Kelly McBride argues that journalists play a key role in expanding the shame and humiliation of targets of the campaigns by relaying claims to a larger audience, while justifying their actions as simply documenting an event in an impartial manner.<ref name=poyntersacco>{{cite web|url=https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2015/journalism-and-public-shaming-some-guidelines/|title=Journalism and public shaming: Some guidelines|work=poynter.org}}</ref> She writes: "Because of the mob mentality that accompanies public shaming events, often there is very little information about the target, sometimes only a single tweet. Yet there is a presumption of guilt and swift move toward justice, with no process for ascertaining facts." McBride further notes "If newspapers ran front-page photos of adulterers in the Middle East being stripped naked and whipped in order to further their shame, we would criticize them as part of a backward system of justice." Ben Adler compared the Sacco incident to a number of Twitter hoaxes, and argued that the media needs to be more careful to fact-check articles and evaluate context.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cjr.org/news_literacy/news_literacy_twitter.php|title=Trusting Twitter|work=Columbia Journalism Review}}</ref>

====Adria Richards incident====
In March 2013, at a [[Python Conference|PyCon]] technology conference, a female participant named Adria Richards took offense at a private discussion between two male attendees seated nearby using the words "[[dongle]]" and "[[Fork (software development)|forking]]" in reference to the male presenter, which she perceived as a sexual joke. Richards photographed the attendees with their faces visible, then published the photograph on Twitter including a shaming statement in her tweet. The following day, the employer of one of the photographed individuals, a software developer, terminated his employment because of the joke.<ref name="guardianjonronson">{{cite web|work=The Guardian|title=The Internet Shaming of Lindsey Stone|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/21/internet-shaming-lindsey-stone-jon-ronson}}</ref><ref name="ycombinator-hackernews">{{cite web|title=Comment to Hacker News article 'Inappropriate comments at pycon 2013 called out'|url=https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5398681}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Techie Adria Richards fired after tweeting about men's comments|publisher=CBS News|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57575905/techie-adria-richards-fired-after-tweeting-about-mens-comments/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Why Asking What Adria Richards Could Have Done Differently Is The Wrong Question|work=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/deannazandt/2013/03/22/why-asking-what-adria-richards-could-have-done-differently-is-the-wrong-question/ | first=Deanna|last=Zandt}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite news|url=http://www.denverpost.com/ci_22863310/sendgrid-employees-tweet-sets-off-firestorm|title=SendGrid employee's tweet sets off firestorm|work=The Denver Post|first=Andy|last=Vuong|date=March 25, 2013|accessdate=September 18, 2015}}</ref>

In response to Richards' public shaming of the developers, Internet users who were uninvolved launched a [[Denial-of-service attack|DDoS Attack]] on her employer, [[SendGrid]], and according to an article by Jon Ronson in ''[[The New York Times Magazine]]'' "told the employer the attacks would stop if Richards was fired".<ref name="nytjonronson">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html|title=How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco's Life|work=The New York Times Magazine|first=Jon|last=Ronson|date=February 12, 2015|accessdate=September 18, 2015}}</ref> SendGrid subsequently terminated her employment later the same day citing Richards' dividing the very community she was hired to unite, and the male anatomy joke she had posted a few days earlier on the employer website. Following the incident, PyCon updated its attendee rules stating, "Public shaming can be counter-productive to building a strong community. PyCon does not condone nor participate in such actions out of respect."<ref name="auto1"/><ref name="nytjonronson" /><ref>{{cite web|title=How "dongle" jokes got two people fired—and led to DDoS attacks|website=Ars Technica|url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/how-dongle-jokes-got-two-people-fired-and-led-to-ddos-attacks/}}</ref>

In a 2014 interview, Richards—still unemployed—speculated whether the developer was responsible for instigating the Internet backlash against her.<ref name="guardianjonronson"/> The developer, who was offered a new job "right away", said he had not engaged with those who sent him messages of support, and had posted a short statement on [[Hacker News]] the same night after he was fired saying in part that Richards had "every right to report me to staff, and I defend her position".<ref name="guardianjonronson"/><ref name="ycombinator-hackernews" />

====Australian racist bus passengers incident====
In November 2012, an Australian man filmed several passengers on a [[Melbourne, Australia|Melbourne]] bus verbally abusing and threatening a woman who had begun singing a song in French. A video alerting viewers of their racist and sexist comments was uploaded to YouTube<ref>{{cite web|author=CheckpointComedy |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp6J6PF47CM&list=UU3wNqCKLMgruiqDANVtW2-g |title=Caught on camera: racist Australians abuse girl & smash bus window |via=YouTube |date=November 18, 2012 |accessdate=May 29, 2014}}</ref> and quickly attracted national<ref name="ref idiots">{{cite news | url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/society-and-culture/idiots-captured-on-coward-camera-20121121-29pba.html | title=Idiots captured on Coward Camera | newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald | date=November 21, 2012 | accessdate=April 3, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.australiantimes.co.uk/news/news-from-australia/news-in-australia/youtube-video-of-racist-abuse-captures-australias-darker-side.htm | title=YouTube video of racist abuse captures Australia's darker side | work=Australian Times | date=November 21, 2012 | accessdate=April 3, 2014 | author=Ivett, Alex}}</ref> and international media attention.<ref name="guardian melbourne">{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/21/melbourne-racist-bus-rant-australia |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305103002/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/21/melbourne-racist-bus-rant-australia|archivedate=March 5, 2016| url-status=live|title=Melbourne bus abuse video puts Australian attitudes on trial | work=The Guardian | date=November 21, 2012 | accessdate=April 3, 2014 | last=Rourke | first=Alison}}</ref> The two male perpetrators who were most prominent in the video were later jailed, with Magistrate Jennifer Goldsbrough describing their threats as "offensive to the entire population".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/man-jailed-for-racist-bus-rant-20140117-30zyx.html | title=Man jailed for racist bus rant | newspaper=The Age | date=January 17, 2014 | accessdate=April 3, 2014 | last=Cooper|first=Adam|archivedate=September 11, 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911142122/http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/man-jailed-for-racist-bus-rant-20140117-30zyx.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/david-graham-in-court-over-bus-rant-20131001-2upzf.html | title=David Graham in court over bus rant | work=The Age | date=October 1, 2013 | accessdate=April 3, 2014 | author=Cooper, Adam}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/sexist-racist-bus-passenger-jailed-20140320-354ej.html | title='Sexist, racist' bus passenger jailed | newspaper=The Age | date=March 20, 2014 | accessdate=April 3, 2014 | last=Lee|first=Jane|archivedate=September 11, 2014|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911214825/http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/sexist-racist-bus-passenger-jailed-20140320-354ej.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Conduct on public transportation====
[[File:Shebagging in London.jpg|thumb|right|A woman taking up empty seats on the London Underground]]
Starting as a turn of phrase, [[manspreading]] is a critique of men who take up more than one seat with their legs widely spread.<ref name="reuters">{{Cite news|url = https://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/27/us-life-manspread-idUSKCN0QW1Y620150827|title = Manspreading, hangry, Grexit join Oxford online dictionary|date = August 27, 2015|agency = Reuters}}</ref> The controversy surrounding manspreading have been described by libertarian feminist Cathy Young as "pseudo feminism—preoccupied with male misbehavior, no matter how trivial".<ref name=":0">Cathy Young, [http://www.newsday.com/opinion/columnists/cathy-young/manspreading-but-women-hog-subway-space-too-cathy-young-1.9776186 "'Manspreading'? But women hog subway space, too"], ''Newsday'', January 5, 2015.</ref> The practice of posting pictures of manspreading taken on subways, buses, and other modes of transportation online has been described as a form of public shaming.<ref name="Public Shaming">{{cite web|last1=Devon|first1=Natasha|title=The rise of stranger shaming: How humiliating others became acceptable|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/the-rise-of-stranger-shaming-how-humiliating-others-became-acceptable-9982260.html|work=The Independent |date=January 16, 2015}}</ref>

====''Hypatia'' transracialism controversy====
{{main|Hypatia transracialism controversy}}
The feminist philosophy journal [[Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy|''Hypatia'']] became involved in a dispute in April 2017 that led to the online shaming of one of its authors.<ref name=Brubaker18May2017>Brubaker, Rogers (May 18, 2017). [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/18/opinion/the-uproar-over-transracialism.html "The Uproar Over ‘Transracialism’"], ''The New York Times''.</ref> The journal published an article about [[Transracial (identity)|transracialism]] by Rebecca Tuvel, an assistant professor of philosophy, comparing the situation of [[Caitlyn Jenner]], a trans woman, to that of [[Rachel Dolezal]], a white woman who identifies as black. The article was criticized on Facebook and Twitter as a source of "epistemic violence", and the author became the subject of personal attacks.<ref name=Singal2May2017>Singal, Jesse (May 2, 2017). [http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/05/transracialism-article-controversy.html "This Is What a Modern-Day Witch Hunt Looks Like"], ''New York'' magazine.</ref> Academics associated with ''Hypatia'' joined in the criticism.<ref name=Oliver7May2017>Oliver, Kelly (May 7, 2017). [http://thephilosophicalsalon.com/if-this-is-feminism-its-been-hijacked-by-the-thought-police/ "If this is feminism"], ''The Philosophical Salon'' (''Los Angeles Review of Books'').</ref> A member of the journal's editorial board became the point of contact for an open letter demanding that the article be retracted, and the journal's board of associate editors issued an unauthorized apology, saying the article should never have been published.<ref name=Singal2May2017/><ref name=McKenzie6May2017>McKenzie, Lindsay; Harris, Adam; and Zamudio-Suaréz, Fernanda (May 6, 2017). [http://www.chronicle.com/article/A-Journal-Article-Provoked-a/240021 "A Journal Article Provoked a Schism in Philosophy. Now the Rifts Are Deepening."], ''The Chronicle of Higher Education''.</ref> [[Rogers Brubaker]] described the episode in the ''New York Times'' as an example of "internet shaming".<ref name=Brubaker18May2017/>


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 23:04, 4 April 2020

In 2015, an American dentist and recreational big-game hunter received a flood of negative messages and online reviews after killing Cecil the lion.

Online shaming is a form of Internet vigilantism in which targets are publicly humiliated for actions done privately or without wanting intended public broadcast using technology like social and new media. Proponents of shaming see it as a form of online participation that allows hacktivists and cyber-dissidents to right injustices. Critics see it as a tool that encourages online mobs to destroy the reputation and careers of people or organizations who made perceived slights.[1]

Online shaming frequently involves the publication of private information on the Internet (called doxing), which can frequently lead to hate messages and death threats being used to intimidate that person. The ethics of public humiliation has been a source of debate over privacy and ethics.

Public shaming

Jon Ronson has compared modern online shaming to medieval pillories.

The social networking tools of the Internet have been used as a tool to easily and widely publicize instances of perceived anti-social behavior.

David Furlow, chairman of the Media, Privacy and Defamation Committee of the American Bar Association, has identified the potential privacy concerns raised by websites facilitating the distribution of information that is not part of the public record (documents filed with a government agency), and has said that such websites "just [give] a forum to people whose statements may not reflect truth."[1]

After some controversial incidents of public shaming, the popular link-sharing and discussion website Reddit introduced a strict rule against the publication of non-public personally-identifying information via the site (colloquially known on Reddit and elsewhere as "doxing"[clarification needed]). Those who break the rule are subject to a site-wide ban, and their posts and even entire communities may be removed for breaking the rule.

In 2015, online shaming was the subject of the book So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson.[2] Ronson documented how people had become agoraphobic due to humiliation online for misinterpreted jokes, and says people should think twice before gleefully condemning someone for doing almost nothing wrong.[2] Ronson touches on the unforgiving nature of a collective consciousness, an issue prevalent in contemporary cancel culture.

In 2019, John Oliver discussed public shaming and online bullying in an episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, where he interviewed Monica Lewinsky about the topic.[3]

Types

Doxing

Main articles: Doxing and cyber-stalking

Doxing involves researching and broadcasting personally identifiable information about an individual, often with the intention of harming that person.[4][5][6][7] This can often lead to extortion, coercion, harassment and other forms of abuse. On February 1, 2017, Reddit, a social news website, has banned two alt-right communities, r/altright and r/alternativeright for doxing and violating Reddit community guidelines.[8][9][10]

Revenge porn

Nonconsensual pornography is a form of sexually explicit recording publicized on the Internet in order to humiliate a person, frequently distributed by computer hackers or ex-partners (called revenge porn). Images and video of sexual acts are often combined with doxing of a person's private details, such as their home addresses and workplaces.[11][12] Victims' lives can be ruined as a result, the victims exposed to cyber-stalking and physical attack as well as facing difficulties in their workplace should their images become known as a result of routine checks by employers. Some have lost their jobs, while others have been unable to find work at all.[13]

Negative reviews

Products frequently attract negative reviews on Goodreads,[14] Amazon and other online commerce websites.

In many cases, users of Yelp write reviews in order to lash out at corporate interests or businesses they dislike.[15] During the Chick-fil-A same-sex marriage controversy, activists encouraged a consumer boycott of Chick-fil-A and left negative reviews of the site's locations on restaurant rating websites after the founder declared that corporate profits would be donated to political causes opposing same-sex marriage in the United States. In 2015 an Indiana pizzeria was swarmed with negative Yelp reviews after the owner said it wouldn't cater gay weddings.[16][17][18][19][20][21] Similar reactions have frequently followed bakers refusing to make cakes for gay weddings.[22][23] After Cecil the lion was shot by an American recreational big-game hunter, his business was flooded with negative reviews.[24]

Government shaming

Various governments have used "name and shame" policies to punish tax evasion,[25][26][27] environmental violations[28] and minor crimes like littering.[29] Shaming is also used in the context of regulation by administrative agencies. Regulatory shaming refers to the publication of negative information by administrative agencies concerning private regulated bodies, mostly Corporations, in order to further public-interest goals.[30] For instance, regulatory agencies such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration send out condemning press releases and use social media to publish workplace safety violations with the names of responsible companies,[31] while the Food and Drug Administration shames companies for blocking competition in the pharmaceutical industry.[32]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Tracy Swartz, RedEye (May 31, 2007). "The wide world of cyber snitching". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Jon Ronson And Public Shaming". On the Media.
  3. ^ "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – March 17, 2019".
  4. ^ S-W, C. "What doxxing is, and why it matters". The Economist, UK.
  5. ^ Ryan Goodrich (April 2, 2013). "What is Doxing?". TechNewsDaily.com. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
  6. ^ James Wray and Ulf Stabe (December 19, 2011). "The FBI's warning about doxing was too little too late". Thetechherald.com. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  7. ^ Zurcher, Anthony. "Duke freshman reveals porn identity". BBC, United Kingdom. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  8. ^ Coldewey, Devin (February 1, 2017). "Reddit bans r/altright over doxing". TechCrunch.
  9. ^ Schiesser, Tim (February 1, 2017). "Reddit bans 'alt-right' subreddits for doxing". TechSpot.
  10. ^ Statt, Nick (February 1, 2017). "Reddit bans two prominent alt-right subreddits". The Verge.
  11. ^ Emily Bazelon,Why Do We Tolerate Revenge Porn?", Slate (September 25, 2013).
  12. ^ Eric Larson, "It's Still Easy to Get Away With Revenge Porn", Mashable, October 21, 2013.
  13. ^ Danielle K. Citron, "‘Revenge porn’ should be a crime", CNN (August 30, 2013).
  14. ^ "'Am I being catfished?' An author confronts her number one online critic". The Guardian.
  15. ^ Chafkin, Max (February 1, 2010). "You've Been Yelped". Inc. Magazine. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  16. ^ Colin Lecher. "Indiana pizzeria swarmed with negative Yelp reviews after saying it won't cater gay weddings". The Verge.
  17. ^ "Anti-Gay Indiana Pizza Place Earns the Very Best Yelp Reviews". Adweek.
  18. ^ Kendall Breitman (April 1, 2015). "Yelp reviewers rip Indiana pizza shop that endorsed 'religious freedom' law". POLITICO.
  19. ^ amymckeever. "Why Yelp Emerged as a Site for Social Protest". Eater.
  20. ^ "This Anti-Gay Pizza Place Got Trashed on Yelp. Why Isn't That Enough?". Reason.
  21. ^ "Gay Business Owner Explains Why She Donated To Indiana's Memories Pizza Even Though They Won't Cater A Same-Sex Wedding". HuffPost.
  22. ^ "Lesbians win $135K lawsuit against shitty Christian bakery". Death and Taxes.
  23. ^ "Walter Olson". Daily News. New York.
  24. ^ Andrew Whalen (July 28, 2015). "Big Game Hunter Outed: What Happens To Your Yelp Reviews After You Chop Off A Lion's Head?". iDigitalTimes.com.
  25. ^ "Government Says Tax Name and Shame Off the Cards". Sky News. 2017. Archived from the original on August 17, 2015. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  26. ^ "Leaked Senate report calls for ATO to name and shame multinational tax dodgers". ABC News.
  27. ^ "Bringing back black money: Why name-and-shame alone won't work in India". Firstpost.
  28. ^ "China's biggest polluting public companies named and shamed by green groups". South China Morning Post. December 9, 2014.
  29. ^ "Hong Kong's Name and Shame Litter Campaign". CNBC. April 23, 2015.
  30. ^ Yadin, Sharon (2019). "Regulatory Shaming". Environmental Law (Lewis & Clark). 49: 42. SSRN 3290017.
  31. ^ Yadin, Sharon (2019). "Saving Lives Through Shaming". Harvard Business Law Review Online. 9: 16. SSRN 3381920.
  32. ^ Yadin, Sharon (2019). "Shaming Big Pharma". Yale Journal on Regulation Bulletin. 36: 17.

External links

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