A "Squadbox" to address online harassment

This is interesting, and I admit my initial reaction was "This won't work." But on second thought it might work for the right person.

A group of researchers at MIT have developed Squadbox, open source software which is billed as a response to online harassment, but it really is a way to personally deal with harassment - not prevent it or address the abusers. It puts the onus for addressing harassment on the harassed.


Squadbox filters your e-mail so potentially harassing e-mails get forwarded to your "squad," or a group of friends or colleagues you designate. These people are your gatekeepers, filtering harassment so you never see it. You can also create an e-mail address at Squadbox. You use that address, and your squad filters the harassment, then forwards the ordinary e-mail.

So you avoid the vitriol, but your squad sees it. I need friends like these! For someone like me, it seems like a lot to ask (and I do not get a lot of harassing e-mail).

I could imagine someone in a position of authority could use this, someone with staff or supporters who could help. You could also set up an agreement with someone - "You filter my hate mail and I will filter yours." Of course, Squadbox means that someone still faces that hate mail, albeit the squad member and not the target.

One Twitter response suggested that "Squadbox is designed to not just remind people that they have community around them, but to activate that community on their behalf." I like that - an affirmation that you have a posse in your corner if you are facing an online mob.

Here is the academic paper about Squadbox. If you are interested, here are a few other articles at Engadget and MIT News.