The Threat

THE THREAT exposes the triumvirate of vested interests - big tech, profit driven politics and historic gender inequalities - that has driven digital development away from gender equality, safety and respect. Dr Lilia Giugni highlights cases from around the world: from minority hate crime and revenge porn to female victims in the mining industries and supply chains. And she then gives us the tools both for personal safety and to create wider global change for a safer world for women and children. This book is part expose and part feminist manifesto. It builds on five years of research and activism, and follows the invisible thread that connects the suicide of a young woman in a remote corner of Southern Italy to decisions made in corporate boardrooms, presidential palaces and the world''s other corridors of power. Following this thread has led me to painfully question my own online habits and my political stance on the digital revolution. Along the way, I''ve met with digital violence survivors and cyber psychologists, Congolese mothers and Chinese factory workers, algorithm designers and AI engineers, politicians and tech company delegates. I''ve also visited schools, universities, campaign organisations'' premises and houses of parliaments, and I''ve exposed myself to much more online misogynistic content I thought I had the stomach for. From an investigation prompted by anger at specific cases, my quest turned into an arguably more complex project. What you are holding in your hand is an analysis of the tight relationship between three dominant forces of modern life: patriarchy, capitalism and technology.