Assignment on Tech Abuse

1)

Justine Sacco was a senior director of corporate communications at IAC, a media company.
In December 2013, she tweeted a seemingly insensitive and offensive joke about AIDS and
Africa just before boarding a flight from London to Cape Town. The tweet read: "Going to
Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white!". The tweet sparked a massive online
backlash, with people calling for her immediate dismissal and accusing her of being racist
and insensitive. The hashtag #HasJustineLandedYet started trending worldwide, and her
tweet became viral, reaching millions of people. During her flight, Sacco became unaware of
the online furore surrounding her tweet. When she landed in Cape Town, she discovered
that she had been fired from her job and had become a public pariah. The incident caused
significant damage to her personal and professional life. The Justine Sacco case is a classic
example of the power of social media to create a global mob mentality that can quickly ruin
someone's life. While Sacco's tweet was undoubtedly insensitive, the intensity of the online
backlash was disproportionate to her mistake. Some argue that Sacco's tweet was a poor
attempt at humour, while others see it as an expression of her privilege and insensitivity to
the suffering of others. Regardless of the interpretation, the incident highlights the
importance of responsible social media usage and the potential consequences of online
outrage. It's important to consider the potential impact of our words and actions and to be
mindful of how they may be perceived by others. Additionally, the incident highlights the
need for empathy, kindness, and forgiveness in our online interactions.

2)
The different ways by which an abuser can keep track of a person online are:

• Using stalker ware or applications secretly installed on the person’s device to

monitor their calls, texts, photos, location and camera1.
• Using social media posts to keep tabs on the person’s interactions, location and
activities.
• Using electronic surveillance devices or software to record the person’s private
conversations without their consent4.
• Using spoofing techniques to bypass a list of blocked contacts and contact the
person with fake numbers or identities.

3)

To delete your location history or web activity history in Gmail, you can follow these steps:

• On your computer, go to your Google Account.

• At the left, click Data & privacy.
 • Under “History settings,” click an activity or history setting you want to delete. For
example, Location History or Web & App Activity.
• Click Auto-delete.
• Click the button for how long you want to keep your activity Next Confirm to save
your choice.

4)

To enhance your privacy in Facebook, you can follow these steps:

• Don’t overshare. Be careful about what you post on Facebook, or any other social
media site.
• Use a strong password.
• Change who can see your posts.
• Change who can see your friends list.
• Turn off facial recognition. Facebook uses facial recognition technology to suggest
tags for photos that you and others upload. Turn this feature off.
• Review third-party apps and websites. You can check which apps and websites you
have logged into using Facebook and remove any that you don’t trust or use
anymore.
• Manage ad preferences. You can control what types of ads you see on Facebook and
how advertisers use your data by going to Ad Preferences Settings in your account
settings.

5)

The top ten mobile applications for casual dating are:

i. Tinder
ii. Bumble
iii. OkCupid
iv. Hinge
v. Grindr
vi. Down Dating
vii. East Meet East
viii. Facebook Dating
ix. Happn
x. Seeking
6)

Here are a three news articles discussing the effect of negative comments on
people/celebrities on social media:

• Bollywood celebs quit social media over toxicity: No matter what we post we always
invite negativity, they say
• 7 Negative Effects of social media on People and Users
• Mental Health Effects of Reading Negative Comments Online

7)

The top tools available online for spying on phones and computer systems are:

• Cocospy
• FlexiSPY
• Spyera
• iKeyMonitor

8)

Some of the recent cases of use of fake images or deepfakes impacting people in real life
are:

• A deepfake bot on Telegram that created over 100,000 deepfake nude images of
unsuspecting women, many of whom had their photos stolen from social media
accounts.

This case shows how deepfakes can be used for sexual harassment, blackmail and
revenge porn.

• A deepfake voice scam that used machine learning technology to clone the voices of
people to commit financial crimes2. In one instance, a UK-based energy firm was
tricked into transferring $243,000 to a Hungarian bank account after receiving a
phone call from someone who sounded like their German boss.

This case shows how deepfakes can be used for fraud and identity theft.

• A deepfake video that showed former US President Barack Obama calling his
successor Donald Trump a "total and complete dipshit"3. The video was actually
made by comedian Jordan Peele as a public service announcement to warn people
about the dangers of fake news and misinformation.

This case shows how deepfakes can be used for political satire and manipulation.
9)

According to a study by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and Indraprastha

Institute of Information Delhi, India has witnessed the most deaths due to selfies over the
past two years, followed by Russia and the United States. Some of the incidents that
occurred in India are:

• In 2015, a man was killed by an elephant while trying to take a selfie with it at a
wildlife park in West Bengal.
• In 2016, three students drowned after slipping into a reservoir while taking a selfie
on a boat in Nagpur.
• In 2017, two teenagers were electrocuted while taking selfies on top of a train in
Delhi.
• In 2018, six people died after being hit by a train while posing for selfies on railway
tracks in Karnataka.
• In 2019, four people drowned after falling into a water tank while taking selfies near
Hyderabad.

10)

Some of the consequences or risks of sexting are:

• Sexting can have negative effects on your mental health, such as anxiety, depression,
low self-esteem, shame and guilt. You might feel pressured to sext by your partner
or peers, or regret sending something that you didn’t want to share.
• Sexting can damage your reputation and relationships. If your sexts get leaked or
forwarded to others without your consent, you might face bullying, harassment,
blackmail or revenge porn. You might also lose trust and respect from your family,
friends or partner.
• Sexting can expose you to legal risks. Depending on where you live and how old you
are, sexting might be considered a crime if it involves minors (under 18) or non-
consensual sharing of intimate images. You could face charges for producing,
possessing or distributing child pornography.
• Sexting can increase your risk of sexual exploitation and abuse. If you send sexts to
someone you don’t know well or trust completely, they might use them to
manipulate you into doing things you don’t want to do. They might also share them
with others who could harm you physically or emotionally.
• Sexting can interfere with your personal and professional goals. If your sexts get
exposed online or offline, they might affect your chances of getting into college,
finding a job or pursuing a career. They might also cause you stress and distraction
that could affect your academic performance and well-being.