Online harassment and cybersecurity: How to protect yourself without surrendering your voice

An argument in a comments section can be unpleasant. A message threatening violence requires a different response.

October’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month offers an opportunity to understand that distinction — and take practical steps to protect your accounts, personal information and ability to participate in public debate.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recommends four basic precautions: recognize and report phishing, use strong passwords and a password manager, enable multifactor authentication, and update software. Those measures help protect accounts against unauthorized access, according to the CISA website.

For people receiving threats, the FBI’s advice is direct. “Don’t delete the messages,” according to the FBI Threat Intimidation Guide. “Preserve all electronic evidence.”

Protecting an account and responding to harassment are related tasks. One addresses access to your information; the other addresses conduct directed at you.

PEN America’s Online Harassment Field Manual provides resources for writers, witnesses and employers.

“When people stop speaking out and writing about particular topics due to fear of reprisal, everyone loses,” PEN America states in its position on harassment and free expression.

The organization warns that intimidation can push people away from publishing, discussing controversial subjects, or participating online. Its guidance also recognizes that protecting people from abuse must coexist with protecting legitimate debate, including speech that offends.

What should you do when a message becomes threatening?

The FBI identifies threats delivered through texts, private messages, social media or email as electronic message threats.

Its guidance instructs recipients to notify law enforcement and preserve information such as the subject line, date, time and sender. Printing, photographing or copying that information can help document what happened. Keep the original messages as well, the FBI said.

Saving evidence before deleting content or changing access settings can help preserve the context investigators need to review.

PEN America recommends considering the broader pattern: Does the message identify you specifically? Does it include your location, workplace or information about loved ones? Is the person repeatedly targeting you across platforms? Is the behavior escalating?

“Follow your instincts and trust your judgment,” PEN America advises in its threat-assessment guidance. The organization also recommends checking your assessment with a trusted friend, relative or colleague.

These questions help identify concerns; they do not independently establish that someone committed a crime.

Does blocking solve the problem?

Blocking, muting, and restricting can reduce unwanted contact or exposure to abusive material, but they serve different purposes.

The PEN America material explainer describes blocking as limiting an account’s access or interaction, while muting primarily changes what the recipient sees. Restriction tools differ across platforms.

Those features do not guarantee that someone stops posting about you or loses access to publicly available information. A trusted person can help monitor concerning activity while you take a break from reviewing it yourself.

Should you respond publicly?

PEN America describes counterspeech as one possible response: correcting false claims, challenging harmful messages, or offering constructive support to someone being targeted.

Its guidance emphasizes assessing safety before engaging. Responding publicly can increase attention to an attack and potentially expose others to unwanted contact. A factual correction may be useful. So may reporting a message, limiting contact or choosing not to engage. The appropriate response depends on the circumstances and the person’s safety.

When should law enforcement be involved?

“If you are in immediate physical danger, call 911,” the FBI said. Threats associated with a possible federal crime may be reported to a local FBI field office or through tips.fbi.gov. Keep copies for yourself and do what you can in writing when possible by email, to have a written record. Other incidents may fall within local or state jurisdiction, and reporting does not guarantee an investigation.

PEN America also recommends considering help from an employer, attorney, trusted personal contacts, or a support organization when abuse creates fear for someone’s safety, according to their online guidance.

For readers looking to prepare now, the starting steps are practical: strengthen account security, review what personal information you publish online, and know how to preserve evidence if unwanted attention becomes threatening.