The use of digital technologies to attack environmental defenders, including many Indigenous leaders and women, is part of a continuum of violence that includes targeted disinformation, defamation tactics, surveillance and death threats. Identity-based disinformation related to ethnicity and gender, as well as defamation tactics, disproportionately affect women defenders. Research indicates that online attacks target not only environmental and climate defenders but also their families, friends and colleagues, creating a chilling effect within their communities.
Violence against environmental defenders, particularly those from Indigenous and traditional communities, has increased in recent years, in a context marked by the resurgence of far-right movements in various parts of the world and the expansion of techno-capitalism into traditional territories. In this scenario, perpetrators of violence increasingly benefit from the technologies of big digital platforms, through the way their design and algorithms operate, generating what has come to be known as technology-facilitated violence. In addition to the direct harm inflicted on defenders and their communities, this situation hinders the struggle for socio-environmental justice, as violence discourages the use of technology by defenders and their communities for political advocacy, activism and learning.
Despite efforts to monitor technology-facilitated violence against environmental defenders, significant challenges remain in terms of under-reporting, particularly in the case of attacks faced by women. Many of the areas where environmental conflicts are most prevalent are isolated and remote. In these regions, documenting cases is difficult, the information is not reported by the mass media, and organised civil society presence is limited. Moreover, the concept of technology-facilitated violence is still considered new, and even strange, by many traditional communities, as is the recognition of their leaders’ struggles under the category of “environmental defenders”.
It is within this context that the project “Resistance and Resilience: Collaborative Responses to Online Attacks on Environmental Defenders” was launched in 2024, with an initial duration planned through 2026. The project supports research on the scope and impact of technology-facilitated violence against environmental defenders in Brazil, Kenya, Mexico and the Philippines, with a focus on Indigenous, traditional and local communities.
Based on research findings and the identification of common trends from studies at national level, the initiative aims to contribute to a safer context for environmental activism through collaborative responses to online attacks, disinformation and the shrinking of civic space online.
In-depth research in Brazil, Kenya, Mexico and the Philippines was conducted through participatory and community-led processes that have been grounded in research ethics and principles defined together with the communities involved. The summaries provided in this publication offer critical insights for civil society, local and national governments, and institutions committed to human rights and environmental justice.
Globally, the project is led by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) in partnership with the following organisations: Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI), which supports the project overall; Voces del Territorio, which conducts research in Mexico; the Manila Observatory through the KLIMA Centre (MO-KLIMA), which implements the project in the Philippines; Intervozes – Coletivo Brasil de Comunicação Social, responsible for the project in Brazil; and the Ogiek Peoples’ Development Program (OPDP), which implements the project in Kenya. Funding is provided by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
Read the full research summary reports here:
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