Surfing the Web of Hate
directed by Nicke Nordmark and Hasse Johansson, Sweden 2013, 55'
Before the presentation at the 17th WATCH DOCS International Film Festival of a report by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights on cyberbullying against women in Poland, we are reminded of a Swedish television program from 2013 that sparked a nationwide debate. Why are there so many men who seem to have no problem directing the most extreme threats and insults against women who are active online? "After all, it's just Facebook," Swedish news reporters were told by the people who participated the online lynching of 21-year-old Julia, who, in a post on H&M's page, criticized the clothing line with a likeness of Tupac Shakur. In Nordmark and Johansson's program, we also see well-known Swedish journalists, publicists and bloggers read out on-camera some of the extremely drastic e-mails and comments that they have to deal with every day. Surfing the Web of Hate not only reveals the scale and brutality of sexist cyberbullying, it also exposes the attitude of social actors like H&M and the state police.
- 2013 IDFA
