The Online Hate Prevention Institute (OHPI) is a Registered Australian Charity that has been working to combat all forms of online hate since 2012.

Our work focuses primarily on monitoring and reporting on harmful social media content. Our work has focused on general racism, anti-Indigenous racism, anti-Asian racism, violent extremism, antisemitism, anti-Muslim hatred, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, serious trolling, and cyberbullying. Interns may choose to specialise in one or more of these areas, and may also work on other forms of online hate (not listed) or related problems such as disinformation.

In addition to monitoring and reporting on online hate in our articles, OHPI also conducts more in-depth research, runs campaigns providing public education, recommends policy changes and law reform, and seeks ways of changing online systems to make them more effective in reducing the risks posed by online hate. We aim to create systemic change that reduces harms now and into the future.

About the Role:

Designed for those who want to be leaders in tackling one or more forms of online hate, in this internship we will share our training, tools, and skills developed and refined over more than a decade. Participants need to be able to commit a total of 40 hours to the internship spread over a period of 3 months (a minimum of 4 hours most weeks). Most hours can be done flexibly at a time of participants choosing, however, the initial training and later weekly meetings will occur at fixed times and be run over Zoom.

This internship incorporates and builds on our online Triage Analysts training, details of which can be found here (see the expert training section). Interns will gain the skills to identify, document, report on, and escalate concerns on harmful online content. Interns will also be supported in creating an article about their chosen form of hate. OHPI may publish some intern articles.

Those who complete the internship will be provided a certificate verifying their completion. Alumni of the internship program may continue to volunteer with OHPI, or may wish to support other organisations as specialists in online hate. OHPI will maintain a roster of graduates willing to respond to major events and emergency situations to help reduce the spread of hate-speech, extremism, and disinformation.

About you:

This program is designed for those from communities targeted by online-hate, and allies who wish to support these communities. It is also a useful entry point for those wishing to work as online community managers, or in the online trust and safety field. The specialist skills provided will also be particularly beneficial to those wanting to enter the equity and inclusion space where concerns related to online content regularly arise.

While no previous experience is required for this role, successful applications will have the following qualities:

• A passion for combating racism or other forms of hate
• Familiarity using social media (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok etc.)
• Familiarity, or a willingness to learn to use, Google docs and Google drive
• Resilience - working with online hate (and seeing a lot of it) is not for everyone

We particularly welcome applicants:

• From different communities impacted by online hate as your lived experience and community connections are an advantage in this work.
• From rural and remote communities as the opportunity is entirely online and we would like to have as wide a geographic spread of participants as possible.
• From community organisations, statutory bodies, government departments, or local governments who work in areas relevant to this internship. Our skills can help you, and your experience will benefit other participants.

How to apply:

To submit your application please click 'Apply Now' by 5pm AEDT on the closing date.

The form will ask for a CV and for two paragraphs that explain your interest in and suitability for the role (max 300 words each). Applicants who make it to the next round will be asked to attend a 1.5 hour introductory training session in responding to Online Hate. Applicants can choose to attend this session on any of the following dates:

• 7th of January, 7pm AEDT.
• 12th of January, 3pm AEDT.
• 15th of January, 2pm AEDT.
• 22nd of January, 7pm AEDT.