Экзекьел Кекана: мужчинам нельзя уходить в соцсети, пока они не возьмут ответственность за защиту женщин

It is unacceptable that some women feel they are not free to engage on digital platforms because of the abuse and hostility they encounter, much of it perpetrated by men. The comment generated diverse views in the room. But it also left me –as a man who understands the kind of abuse and hostility women face online – with a simple yet painful question: Do women need to leave social media platforms to free themselves from online abuse and harassment? While staying and participating on digital platforms remains a personal choice, I strongly believe women should not leave digital platforms because of what these spaces have become. They should not have to retreat from these spaces because men have failed to behave responsibly. Those of us as men, who do not engage in toxic behaviour on these platforms, have a responsibility to use our voices to call out those who create toxic environments for women. For too long, the so-called “good men” or the “look-out guys”, as Nechama Brodie would call us in her book, Femicide in South Africa, have often opted for the easier route — deleting our accounts, withdrawing from conversations or simply becoming spectators to the harassment, abuse and humiliation of women by accounts that we may even follow. Reporting accounts that promote hatred to platform owners can often feel like a fruitless exercise as accounts get blocked and then reactivated days later, while abusive content continues to circulate. If men fail to hold one another accountable for what is happening, these platforms risk becoming echo chambers dominated by men – not because women have nothing to contribute, but because they have been driven away by toxic behaviours. – Ezekiel Kekana, head of communications at Campaign for Free Expression