You Can Block Trump From Your Online Life — For A Good Cause

Unless you move under a rock — or maybe just to a secluded cabin with no internet access — it's safe to say that President-elect Donald Trump's face will dominate the screens of your various devices for the next four years. If that prospect sounds exhausting or emotionally triggering for you, Trumpbuster is here to help. The new Google Chrome extension blacks out any images relating to the president-elect and also serves a second purpose: All the proceeds go directly to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). "Whenever I saw his image, I had a reaction I couldn't control," the creator, who asked to remain anonymous, told Refinery29. "It was triggering." That reaction began after the now-infamous 2005 Access Hollywood tape surfaced in October. She remembers being shaken by Trump's explicit comments on groping women without their consent. Calls to RAINN's hotline surged after the tape was released, suggesting that survivors were affected by Trump's comments and his response that it was just "locker-room talk."

When Trump won on November 8, she realized the constant news coverage of him wouldn't be going away anytime soon. "One of the things I was looking forward to after the election was not seeing his face everywhere," she said. "But on November 9, I realized this was only the beginning."

So, three days after the election, she decided to create Trumpbuster. She enlisted a close friend to help with the code. At first it was a selfish project — she just wanted to avoid seeing Trump's face whenever she went online. But she soon realized that the extension could actually be put to good use for sexual assault survivors and others who weren't interested in having pictures of the president-elect clogging their newsfeeds. That's why she chose to donate all the profits to RAINN. "99 cents is something that everyone is willing to part with if it's for a good cause," the Trumpbuster founder said. There are plenty of web extensions that poke fun at the president-elect, but for the creator, Trumpbuster is a real tool that gives sexual assault survivors and other users autonomy over what they see on a day-to-day basis. "[Trumpbuster] is not a dis to Donald Trump; this is about a personal experience," she said. "It's serious how [Trump's presidency] is affecting people. The time for joking is over."

If you have experienced sexual violence and are in need of crisis support, please call the RAINN Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).