Feminist reflections on internet policies

The internet has not fulfilled many of the optimistic expectations of the role it would play in relation to development and has, in fact, become a ground for denial of rights and voice of marginalised groups and people. But the making of a feminist internet presents the possibility of giving shape to an internet that is built on diverstiy and recognition of rights, especially those of women, gender-divesrse and LGBTQIA+ people.

This edition brings back the conversation to its roots. To the essence of the reasons behind our desire to connect ourselves and each other. It sheds light on who the unconnected are and dispels the myth of the underserved as powerless and in need of saving. It brings back power to the endless creative possibilities of communities that seek self-determination. It offers a closer look at the beauty of what communities around the world are producing to resist the uniformity of the greedy systems that are engulfing the planet and threatening our horizons.

What is the potential overlap between the energies and drive towards building a feminist internet and the growth of community networks in different parts of the world where communities build their own infrastructure and connectivity? In this article, we explore the ways in which community networks question gender norms, and the need for feminists to build infrastructure.

What is feminist infrastructure? Our lives are determined now by technology and especially data and surveillance. How can we undermine the existing technological hegemony and rebuild infrastructures that accommodate different realities and needs through community networks?

A photo essay of a community network and the women working at the radio station and using the community network located just at the outskirts of Bangalore in India.

Not enough has been said about how the #metoo movement played out in contexts far from where it was triggered and especially in countries in Asia and Africa. In this article we see the unravelling of hierarchical and sexualised relations in theatre in South Korea, and how fragile assemblages of rebellion were formed online and on-ground.

Availability and affordability of the internet have a major impact on whether women are able to access and use the internet. In this article we explore what happens when community networks bring the internet closer to women and the small and big ways in which this changes their lives.

Zenzeleni, which means ‘do it yourself’ in isiXhosa, has become exemplary of the unique challenges and remarkable successes of a community network in the global south. In this interview, Sol Luca de Tena discusses how the cooperative business model for Zenzeleni has evolved to center community needs and priorities.

In this interview with Chako Armant who researches and works on a community network on the island of Idjwi in DRC, she talks about running a community network while there is ongoing uncertainty and conflict, and how they are addressing norms around gender and technology.

In this beautifully etched illustration we follow the stories of various women who are working in community networks and their journeys with technology, autonomy and self-realisation. 

Technology when used well can change lives, especially those of people with disabilities. In this review of the remarkable book by Haben, titled "Haben: the deafblind woman who conquered Harvard law", the question raised is whether feminists working with technology are doing enough about accessibility.

In 2019 the High Court of Malaya (Malaysia) upheld a fatwa ruling that bans the organisation Sisters in Islam for going against Islamic teachings. In particular, this ruling limits their use of social media. Read more to hear about the complexities of activism and speech in Malaysia for feminist groups and individuals.

Censorship has been replaced online by a system of content moderation controlled by companies, and these rely on both automation as well as human moderators employed to sift through content. The choice is not between the alleged neutrality of the impersonal machine and the errors and finiteness of human moderation, as both work in tandem.

Advances in biological sciences suggest that in the future it would be possible to give birth to babies outside of the woman's body, and this upsets assumptions that connect reproductive labour to fixed gender roles. What are then the implications for feminist imaginations and futures?

How to work with people who repeatedly and rightly question the motivations for our research? This article looks specifically looking at a research project that deals with workers and unions who often need external support and allies to address reccuring crisises, and particularly at what feminist ethical research practices would mean in this context. 

La metodología feminista, la verdadera, se opone ferozmente a la extracción de conocimientos, y tiene como objetivo hacer una aportación a las comunidades

Research and knowledge has long been based on a hierarchical and fraught dynamic between the researcher and researched that perpetuates, the objective academic and the "subject". Feminist way of knowing, standpoint theory and participatory methodology are some of the tools that seek to destabilise and upset this equation and produce in its place the possibility of co-creating knowledge and technology together. 

Feminist research practices and ways of knowing have paid close attention to questions of ethics, the divide between the researcher and researched, the power dynamics of knowledge-making and extraction. In this editorial, we look at how these questions are of importance especially in relation to research that seeks to contribute to liberation and transformation of technology to be used by women and people of diverse sexualities and genders.