Meta Launches New On-line Security Course for Journalists

Meta has launched a new, free online digital security and safety training course for journalists and human rights defenders, which takes participants through a range of key elements to help protect their privacy, counter harassment and more.

As defined by way of Meta:

“Supported by the Meta Journalism Project, the self-paced 90-minute course will teach journalists and human rights defenders how to protect their digital assets and increase the security of their operations.”

The new programme  has been created together with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and the Border Center for Journalists and Bloggers (BCJB), and is available via the ICFJ website.

Course modules include; Laying a strong digital security foundation, Secure social media usage, How to report from difficult situations in a secure fashion and Countering online harassment

Journalists and civil society advocates will quickly additionally have the ability to take part in a chain of webinars on virtual safety to additional support their finding out.

The course couldn’t be more timely, with Russian authorities now banning social media platforms and news outlets over what it claims has been misreporting of its invasion into Ukraine.

Both Facebook and Twitter have been blocked for Russian users (Instagram and WhatsApp remain active), while the BBC is one of several major news outlets that’s been forced to shut down its Russian operations due to a recent law change which 'appears to criminalize the process of independent journalism' in Russia.

Amid efforts to control what journalists can and cannot report, maintaining safety for correspondents is crucial, and this course will help improve digital literacy, in order to maximize online sources without putting yourself or your contacts at undue risk.

It’s initiative, and hopefully it’ll allow more journalists to higher perceive their choices on this respect.