DEFINING CYBER VIOLENCE AS PEN America points out: “The first step to combatting online abuse is developing a shared language to identify and describe it.” (source). The terms most widely used are cyberbullying, cyber violence, online harassment or online abuse with the most preferred terms being online harassment or online abuse. Sadly though, none of these terms actually speak to the harm that is inflicted upon the women who are on the receiving end of these attacks. The definition used by the Council of Europe describes cyber violence as: “The use of computer systems to cause, facilitate, or threaten violence against individuals, that results in (or is likely to result in) physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering and may include the exploitation of the individual’s circumstance, characteristics or vulnerabilities.” — Council of Europe: Cyberviolence PEN America prefers the terms online harassment or online abuse, which it defines as the “pervasive or severe targeting of an individual or group online through harmful behaviour.” — PEN America: Defining “Online Abuse”: A Glossary of Terms Severe because even a single incident of online abuse, such as a death threat or the publishing of a home address, can have serious consequences. Pervasive because, while some individual incidents of online abuse, such as insults or spam, may not rise to the level of abuse, a steady drumbeat of incidents, or a coordinated onslaught, does. Online includes email, social media platforms (such as X, formerly Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok), messaging apps (such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp), blogging platforms (such as Medium, Tumblr, and WordPress), and comments sections (on digital media, personal blogs, YouTube pages, and Amazon book reviews). Astroturfing Astroturfing is the dissemination or amplification of content (including abuse) that appears to arise organically at the grassroots level and spread, but is actually coordinated (often using multiple fake accounts) by an individual, interest group, political party, or organisation. Concern trolling Abusers pose as fans or supporters of a target’s work and make harmful and demeaning messages comments masked as constructive feedback. Outrage/Shame mobs A form of mob justice focused on publicly exposing, humiliating, and punishing a target, often for expressing opinions on politically charged topics or ideas the outrage mob disagrees with and/or has taken out of context in order to promote a particular agenda. Cyberstalking In a legal context, “cyberstalking” is the prolonged and repeated use of abusive behaviours online intended “to, injure, harass, intimidate, or place under surveillance with intent to, injure, harass, or intimidate” a target. Deepfake Definition: The use of “a form of artificial intelligence called deep learning” to make manufactured images, audio, and/or video that appear real. These images, audio, and/or video are “mimicking speech or facial expressions so as to make it appear that someone has said or done something they haven’t.” 8