The Online Abuse Prevention Initiative (OAPI) is a non-profit organization whose aim is to study and combat abuse on the Internet.

History

OAPI was created by Randi Lee Harper in response to

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

's lack of tools for filtering

online harassment Cyberbullying (cyberharassment or online bullying) is a form of bullying or harassment using Electronic communication network, electronic means. Since the 2000s, it has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers and Adolescence, a ...

. OAPI was founded in 2015, with Crash Override Network's

Zoë Quinn Zoë Tiberius Quinn (born 1987) is an American video game developer, programmer, and writer. Quinn developed the interactive fiction game '' Depression Quest'', which was released in 2013. In 2014, a blog post by their ex-boyfriend sparked the ...

and Alex Lifschitz stated as serving on the inaugural board of directors. In March 2015 Quinn announced a formal partnership between the two organizations.

Activities

The stated goals of the OAPI are to study online abuse, and to reduce and mitigate it through technical measures and collaboration with tech companies. Its first public campaign was an

open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

ICANN The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is a global multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several dat ...

, the organization responsible for coordinating the Internet's

Domain Name System The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed name service that provides a naming system for computers, services, and other resources on the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information ...

, opposing the latter's plans to end anonymity of

WHOIS WHOIS (pronounced as the phrase "who is") is a query and response protocol that is used for querying databases that store an Internet resource's registered users or assignees. These resources include domain names, IP address blocks and autonomo ...

records for commercial websites. OAPI argues that ICANN's proposals will make it easier for abusers to physically endanger

domain name In the Internet, a domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services, and more. ...

registrants through

doxxing Doxing or doxxing is the act of publicly providing personally identifiable information about an individual or organization, usually via the Internet and without their consent. Historically, the term has been used to refer to both the aggregati ...

and

swatting Swatting is a form of criminal harassment that involves deceiving an emergency service (via such means as hoaxing an emergency services dispatcher) into sending a police or emergency response team to another person's location. This is achieved ...

, and that those marginalized for their race, gender, or sexual orientation are disproportionately at risk. The letter attracted signatures and support from over fifty organizations supporting online privacy or protection of at-risk communities, including the

Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an American international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1990 to promote Internet civil liberties. It provides funds for legal defense in court, ...

The Tor Project The Tor Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) research-education nonprofit organization based in Winchester, Massachusetts. It is founded by computer scientists Roger Dingledine, Nick Mathewson, and five others. The Tor Project is primarily responsibl ...

, and the

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the mission of being the voice of victims and survivors of domestic violence. Based in Denver, Colorado. National Coalition Against Domestic Violence ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Online Abuse Prevention Initiative Cyberbullying Gamergate (harassment campaign) Internet culture Organizations established in 2015 Video game culture