Abstract

Online harassment is increasingly prevalent and intense, particularly affecting individuals belonging to minority groups. 35% of Americans have encountered online harassment specifically targeting their ethnic, religious, or sexual identity (Anti-Defamation League, 2022). The offense in social media usually is in the format of, but not limited to, toxic postings, direct messages, and hyperlinks to other harassing content. This research proposes a transformative solution through leveraging Blockchain Technology (BCT) to create an immutable, decentralized, fair log of harassment incidents that is transparent to all users in order to deter harassers (specifically the potential ones), given the fact that their actions would be permanent and visible. BCT has the potential to re-configure almost all aspects of society (Swan, 2015). This study explores a novel framework for leveraging BCT as a public repository for identifying, resolving, and tracking harassment records. While the business applications developed with BCT are ubiquitous, this paper centers on how BCT facilitates better information management. The BCT frameworks proposed by the extant literature touch on well-rounded design, meanwhile overlapping in some modules. This research is among the first to shed light on tackling online offenses leveraging BCT. In the framework, users can remain anonymous while subjected to a single verification procedure to assure responsibility without sacrificing privacy. Moreover, the model implements smart contracts that automatically enforce community guidelines. Users agree to these terms upon joining, and violations result in automatic penalties since the platform can use consensus mechanisms for the community to validate reports of harassment. The framework also develops a blockchain-based reputation system where positive interactions increase reputation, while verified reports of harassment lead to penalties. In this paper, the smart contract is an interplanetary file system, and an Ethereum-based domain name system (EBDNS) is used for external interlinking with users. This research also designs the verification phase for testing the BCT framework, where the pilot users test the beta version of the specifications. In summary, by addressing critical issues such as identity verification, content monitoring, and community governance, this approach aims to reduce online harassment significantly.

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