Moonshot

We are SO excited to share that Moonshot has been named as the 7th Most Innovative Small Business in the world on Fast Company's list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies 2023. This year’s list highlights the companies making the biggest strides around the globe, paving the way for the innovations of tomorrow. We are incredibly proud of the recognition of our team’s work - from rescuing children from child abuse, channeling potential perpetrators of violent misogyny into counseling, or protecting hundreds of thousands of individuals from the dangerous effects of disinformation. Our work this year has been truly global, making the internet safer in countries such as Germany, Indonesia, Pakistan and Sweden, among many others. Above all, this recognition is a true testament to our team’s unfaltering commitment to end the most pervasive online harms. Thank you to all our clients and partners - without you this work wouldn’t be possible and we hope you will join us in celebrating this achievement, but more importantly, continuing this important work in 2023 and beyond. You can read more about Moonshot’s listing at Fast Company here: https://lnkd.in/eKWyGpMM. Find out more about our work here: https://lnkd.in/e_nndjFr #FCMostInnovative #innovation

Last week, our team conducted an analysis of key online responses within international Salafi-jihadist networks following the overthrow of the regime led by former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Here is an explainer of responses observed from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), al-Qaeda (AQ), Islamic State (IS), and their supporters following the events in Syria. All insights are pulled from relevant spaces on Telegram, Element and Rocket.Chat. It provides an assessment of official outputs by the three groups and their affiliates - and an assessment of what this all means moving forward. Please share with anyone who may find this explainer useful, and reach out if you have any questions 📃⤵️

🥇 Women in public life are more likely to experience digital violence. They rely on social media platforms to engage with their fans, honor sponsorship and publicity commitments, and celebrate their success. But for many, the cost of engaging online is becoming too high. Female athletes are at the forefront of this, experiencing hate speech, doxxing and AI-generated deepfakes - posing an increasing threat to their safety and wellbeing. World Athletics has highlighted that 87% of all abuse at the Tokyo Olympics targeted female athletes. Moonshot’s work to protect specific athletes at the Paris Olympics 2024 identified similar trends: ❎ 60% of intimate image abuse cases targeted female athletes.  ❎ Over 2,200 instances of hate speech, overwhelmingly targeting female athletes of color. ❎ Sex-based conspiracies, in which users made discriminatory allegations about an athlete’s sex characteristics or medical transition status/history. 96% of these were levelled at cisgender women, and mostly targeted women of color. 🌍 Spotlighting the disproportionate online abuse experienced by women in public life - especially female athletes - for the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Moonshot has partnered with CTH Advisors to combat the rising levels of online abuse in the sports industry. We are working towards a world that allows women to succeed safely. 💪 #16Daysofactivism #NoExcuse #EndViolence Learn more about our work to protect athletes here ⤵️   https://lnkd.in/efMkmaYC Read the press release for our partnership with CTH Advisors here ⤵️  https://lnkd.in/eYmwZdtz 

🥇 Women in public life are more likely to experience digital violence. They rely on social media platforms to engage with their fans, honor sponsorship and publicity commitments, and celebrate their success. But for many, the cost of engaging online is becoming too high. Female athletes are at the forefront of this, experiencing hate speech, doxxing and AI-generated deepfakes - posing an increasing threat to their safety and wellbeing. World Athletics has highlighted that 87% of all abuse at the Tokyo Olympics targeted female athletes. Moonshot’s work to protect specific athletes at the Paris Olympics 2024 identified similar trends: ❎ 60% of intimate image abuse cases targeted female athletes.  ❎ Over 2,200 instances of hate speech, overwhelmingly targeting female athletes of color. ❎ Sex-based conspiracies, in which users made discriminatory allegations about an athlete’s sex characteristics or medical transition status/history. 96% of these were levelled at cisgender women, and mostly targeted women of color. 🌍 Spotlighting the disproportionate online abuse experienced by women in public life - especially female athletes - for the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Moonshot has partnered with CTH Advisors to combat the rising levels of online abuse in the sports industry. We are working towards a world that allows women to succeed safely. 💪 #16Daysofactivism #NoExcuse #EndViolence Learn more about our work to protect athletes here ⤵️   https://lnkd.in/efMkmaYC Read the press release for our partnership with CTH Advisors here ⤵️  https://lnkd.in/eYmwZdtz 

📈 Nearly 40% of women globally report experiencing Tech-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV), ranging from sexualized online harassment to threats to life. We need to be able to reach people online - in their moment of need - with practical resources to help identify, report, and protect against TFGBV. 🌍 Today, we're spotlighting digital campaigns to combat TFGBV for United Nations 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. Moonshot is currently working to support survivors and bystanders of TFGBV in Guatemala online. To date we have: ✅ Reached 2 million YouTube and Facebook users in Guatemala with vital information on how to spot and reject TFGBV. ✅ Our campaign explains different forms of TFGBV, the mental health and physical impacts of these forms of violence, and the silencing effect they have on women, with calls to action for people who can safely speak out. ✅ Offered online resources over 20,000 times to people looking for support with experiencing TFGBV. We’re proud to have partnered with IPANDETEC on this important initiative! Learn more about IPANDETEC’s TFGBV work here ⤵️  https://lnkd.in/eKvSFAvp #16Daysofactivism #NoExcuse #EndViolence Check out the Transform project’s resources here, including the Guatemala country assessment ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/eZm2agsG

Our Founder & CEO Vidhya Ramalingam took to the TED Conferences stage earlier this year to discuss how online myths make science dangerous. The talk is out today! No scientist should fear for their lives - but Moonshot continues to track threats against research institutions investigating the science behind extreme weather events. Even those who believe in climate science have perpetrated acts of terrorism in the name of "ecofascism." 🔎 As an organization with origins in counterterrorism - we know that misinformation is often weaponized to serve as a justification for violence. Vidhya's talk explores how information manipulation succeeds online, but more importantly - what we can do about it. 💻 Last year, Moonshot partnered with Google Jigsaw to launch major media literacy initiatives spanning all 27 countries in the EU, Ukraine, and Indonesia. We worked with local partners to develop educational videos to build awareness of online manipulation tactics commonly used to mislead the public and cause harm. ⌨️ Information manipulation is the new norm. We wont be able to fact check our way out of this. Instead of endlessly debating the facts - we need to prepare societies early to encounter information manipulation. Stay tuned as we expand this work globally in 2025 🌍 And watch the talk on TED Conferences here! 📺 https://lnkd.in/geFG4Jxq

🌍 📢 Highlighting critical work on Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) for the United Nations 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence! TFGBV is making online spaces increasingly hostile for women, girls, and other groups marginalized on the basis of their gender. Spotlight on Guatemala: ▪️ TFGBV in Guatemala is widespread and often plays out publicly in online spaces. ▪️ Indigenous Guatemalans, human rights activists, and LGBTQI+ individuals are disproportionately targeted, facing higher rates of cyberattacks and breaches of privacy. ▪️ There is no official way to report these violations, nor anywhere where data is officially recorded on the prevalence of TFGBV. Moonshot investigated existing services providing support to survivors of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and TFGBV across Guatemala. 📊 Key findings: ✅ We identified 101 organizations across all 22 departments. Some departments, like Sololá, are well-served, while others, including densely populated Guatemala City, face severe service shortages. ✅ Of the organizations we mapped, only 10% of organizations offer digital literacy services and only 6% provide digital safety and wellness support—revealing a critical gap in services tailored to forms of TFGBV. ✅ The majority of services are provided in-person (82%), with only 9% of organizations able to provide virtual support, limiting access for people with disabilities or living in harder to reach areas. 🔍 Understanding the services and capabilities that already exist within a community is key to strengthening GBV and TFGBV prevention. We’ll be posting more about our work combating TFGBV in Guatemala over the next 16 days, as we engage with a group of incredible survivor-centered organizations. #16Daysofactivism #NoExcuse #EndViolence Learn more about Transform here ⤵️: https://lnkd.in/eXSt_JhX Read Moonshot’s handbook for Guatemalan organizations combating TFGBV here ⤵️: https://lnkd.in/eg32bDAF 

🚨 Exciting news! Research on Moonshot’s Indonesian media literacy game, Gali Fakta, was published in the Harvard University Kennedy School's Misinformation Review! 📚 In collaboration with University of Notre Dame and IREX, we’ve been exploring innovative ways of increasing media literacy in Indonesia. This led us to develop a bespoke game called Gali Fakta 🎮✨ Researchers assessed the impact of playing Gali Fakta on 1000+ Indonesian participants. The key findings: ▪️ Participants who played Gali Fakta were significantly more skeptical of false news headlines than those who played a control game.  ▪️ They were also less likely to share false news headlines.  ▪️ Importantly, playing Gali Fakta did not decrease trust in factual headlines. 🚀The study demonstrates that Gali Fakta is an effective tool in building resilience to information manipulation, contributing new evidence around the efficacy of prebunking in the Global South. You can read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eQBXM6xs Additional research is currently under review, and we hope to see it published in 2025—stay tuned! ✨ #MediaLiteracy #Indonesia #Gamification #Education #Innovation #DigitalLearning #Collaboration 

📢 📢 Today, we are proud to announce our strategic partnership with CTH Advisors to combat the rising levels of online abuse in the sports industry. For the past decade, Moonshot has worked with global governments around the world to protect schools, national infrastructure, and public figures from terrorism and other threats. Athletes competing on the global stage are facing unprecedented levels of online abuse. As these threats become more sophisticated - from coordinated doxxing to AI-generated deepfakes - they not only impact mental health and wellbeing, but pose a threat to physical security. This is experienced even more acutely by female athletes and athletes of color. Today Moonshot is launching a major initiative to leverage national security tech to protect athletes around the world from online abuse. This portfolio includes our ongoing partnerships with the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee and the Southeastern Conference to keep athletes and officials safe. Learn more about our work in sports here ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/efMkmaYC Read the press release here ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/eYmwZdtz

Moonshot was thrilled to be invited to address #INFOPAC2024 last week! Hosted by the United States Indo-Pacific Command, INFOPAC brings together hundreds of senior military officers, thought leaders, and industry partners to discuss maintaining information advantage in an increasingly encrypted and fragmented digital world. Our CEO, Ross F., highlighted critical strategies for staying ahead of authoritarian tactics with Moonshot's pioneering work on: ✅ Mapping evolving threats in the information landscape and adapting responses in real time; ✅ Deploying inoculation campaigns—an "unfair advantage" that democratic societies can wield to build resilience and fight disinformation effectively; ✅ Fostering a culture of experimentation to enhance cohesion across fragmented digital environments, making our approaches as adaptive as the threats we combat. Some of our key insights from the session 👇 ◼️ Inoculation is a game-changer: it’s an effective, preventive strategy that authoritarian states cannot replicate, giving open societies a unique advantage in safeguarding information integrity. ◼️ The information warfare landscape is evolving. Building cohesive campaigns that address emerging digital spaces, including the Metaverse, is increasingly vital for resilience. ◼️ Success will mean staying nimble. We’re committed to continuous innovation to counter disinformation and keep communities safe. Thank you, #INFOPAC2024, for bringing us together for such an impactful discussion. The road ahead is challenging, but we’re excited to lead the way toward a safer, more informed future.