Digital Intimidation against Environmental Defenders

This poster provides an overview of the current phase of my research on the use of digital intimidation to silence environmental defenders. Digital technologies are becoming increasingly important to environmental defenders, both in terms of the tools that facilitate speaking and/or campaigning and in terms of the (digital) risks they face from their involvement. There is growing concern about the use of various forms of online and technology-facilitated forms of harassment or "digital intimidation" against environmental defenders. If left unexamined, this could ultimately limit the public debate on environmental issues. My research seeks to understand the use of such digital intimidation against environmental defenders and analyzes the existing legal framework for its potential to provide protection against such intimidation. This poster briefly discusses my research into the concept of digital intimidation, my analysis of the Aarhus Convention and its applicability to digital intimidation, and also briefly discusses the survey that I conducted.