Meta Launches New Online Safety Course for Journalists

Meta has launched a brand new, free on-line digital safety and security coaching course for journalists and human rights defenders, which takes members via a spread of key components to assist defend their privateness, counter harassment and extra.

As defined by Meta:

“Supported by the Meta Journalism Venture, the self-paced 90-minute course will educate journalists and human rights defenders the right way to defend their digital property and improve the safety of their operations.”

The new program has been created at the side of the Worldwide Middle for Journalists (ICFJ) and the Border Middle for Journalists and Bloggers (BCJB), and is on the market by way of the ICFJ web site.

Course modules embrace

• Laying a robust digital safety basis
• Safe social media utilization
• Learn how to report from troublesome conditions in a safe style
• Countering on-line harassment

Journalists and civil society advocates will quickly additionally be capable to take part in a sequence of webinars on digital safety to additional improve their studying.

The course couldn’t be extra well timed, with Russian authorities now banning social media platforms and information shops over what it claims has been misreporting of its invasion into Ukraine.

Each Fb and Twitter have been blocked for Russian customers (Instagram and WhatsApp stay energetic), whereas the BBC is one in every of a number of main information shops that’s been compelled to close down its Russian operations on account of a latest legislation change which ‘seems to criminalize the method of unbiased journalism’ in Russia.

Amid efforts to manage what journalists can and can’t report, sustaining security for correspondents is essential, and this course will assist enhance digital literacy, as a way to maximize on-line sources with out placing your self or your contacts at undue danger.

It’s a great initiative, and hopefully it can allow extra journalists to raised perceive their choices on this respect.

You possibly can learn extra about Meta’s new safety and security coaching course right here.