New guidance from the Geena Davis Institute explores how film and television can portray digital safety, online abuse, and cybersecurity careers with greater accuracy and care.
A grandmother answers the phone and hears her grandson’s voice begging for help. A teenager hesitates before opening a message that looks exactly like a school email. A woman discovers an intimate image of herself online that she never agreed to share.
For many viewers, these scenarios no longer feel hypothetical.
The Geena Davis Institute has released new Cyber Narrative Guides designed to help film and television creators portray digital safety, cyber threats, and online abuse with greater accuracy and care. The guides focus on four growing areas of concern: phishing scams, deepfakes, nonconsensual intimate imagery (NCII), and cybersecurity careers.
The initiative, funded by Craig Newmark Philanthropies, reflects the Institute’s ongoing work examining how representation and storytelling shape public understanding — including who audiences see as vulnerable, trustworthy, capable, or responsible in digital spaces. As a research-based organization, the Geena Davis Institute continues to explore how entertainment influences public perception across technology, safety, and representation.
“Thoughtful storytelling about cyber risks can help build safer digital spaces for everyone,” the report states.
Rather than focusing only on catastrophic hacks or stereotypical “genius hacker” characters, the guides encourage creators to depict cybersecurity through everyday experiences and human behavior. One section notes that phishing scams are often portrayed as obvious or cartoonish, even though real scams are typically sophisticated and emotionally manipulative.
The recommendations also push back against victim-blaming narratives. In the section on nonconsensual intimate imagery, the Institute advises creators to avoid framing survivors as reckless or naive, particularly as AI-generated explicit imagery becomes more common. Instead, the guides recommend centering survivor experience, accountability, and realistic barriers to justice.
The report highlights how entertainment can influence public awareness of emerging technologies like deepfakes, which are becoming increasingly difficult to identify. The guidance encourages storytellers to focus less on exaggerated visual glitches and more on the emotional and social consequences of manipulated media. The report also references resources from the National Cybersecurity Alliance, Aspen Digital cyber readiness report, and Take9.org to help audiences and creators better understand evolving digital threats.
Popular on-screen examples referenced throughout the guides include Mr. Robot, Black Mirror, Thelma, I May Destroy You, CSI: Cyber, and Black Panther. These examples are used to illustrate how film and television can portray digital risks and cybersecurity professionals without relying on outdated stereotypes.
The cybersecurity careers section also addresses representation gaps in the industry itself. According to the report, women currently make up about one in four members of the global cybersecurity workforce. The guidance encourages creators to show cybersecurity as collaborative, interdisciplinary work and to portray women and racially diverse professionals in leadership roles.
The report builds on broader conversations around women in STEM representation and the ongoing need for more accurate representation of women in STEM on screen. It also points readers toward additional findings from Girls Who Code cybersecurity research about how exposure and awareness can shape girls’ interest in cybersecurity careers.
The Institute says these portrayals matter because audiences often build their understanding of technical fields — and who belongs in them — through the stories they see on screen.
The Cyber Narrative Guides also include practical resources for writers, producers, and creative teams, along with links to organizations focused on cybersecurity awareness, survivor support, and media literacy, including StopNCII.org, the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, and the CDC sexual violence data brief referenced in the report.
Readers can also explore additional Geena Davis Institute research and view the Institute’s digital safety webinar featuring experts discussing practical strategies for navigating online scams, fraud, and digital safety concerns.
As digital harms continue to evolve, the Institute’s guidance argues that responsible storytelling is no longer just about technical accuracy. It is also about showing how online threats affect trust, safety, relationships, and everyday life.
Download the Cyber Narrative Guides to explore practical recommendations for portraying phishing, deepfakes, online abuse, and cybersecurity careers with greater accuracy and care in film and television storytelling. Download the Cyber Narrative Guides to explore practical recommendations for portraying phishing, deepfakes, online abuse, and cybersecurity careers with greater accuracy and care in film and television storytelling.