Feminist reflections on internet policies

This article sums up the different and important reasons why we should stop using the term "revenge porn" when describing certain kinds of violations online that entail the non-consensual taking and circulation of intimate images. Why does language matter and how does it shape our perceptions and responses? Sophie Maddocks tells us more, based on her extensive research and interviews with activists.

In this interview, Serene Lim dives deep into what are the gender implications of making a community network in a remote area of the Philippines - from tackling gender stereotypes to the distribution of labour of running a community network to the benefits of access for communities often overlooked by telecommunications companies.

On November 28th 2018, as part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, we published a report entitled “From Oppression to Liberation: Reclaiming the Right to Privacy.” It draws not only from academic literature but also interviews with gender and privacy experts across sixteen different countries.

Do you want to organise an edit-a-thon around gender, women in STEM, movements and feminist histories of organising or anything else? Here are a list of (5 and more) things to watch out for - including the safety of your participants and how to navigate the tricky but sometimes essential rules of editing content on Wikipedia. 

What is the social and cultural understanding of privacy? In the wake of the judgments on decriminalising homosexuality and assuring people of their right to privacy, one writer ponders on the value of privacy in relation to the lived realities of queer and gay people.

Social media and technology is transforming democracy and particularly how voting takes place. In Nigeria a bill was proposed to lower the age of running for public office. Here are short interviews with candidates for public office and for the office of the President, including young women, and their take on Nigeria, representation of women, social meida and its role in politics and movements.

Here are collated insights into research on aspects of online gender-based violence against women and other minorities - around sexual objectification, delegitimisation of public personas, non-conformity to gender stereotypes and idealised notions of womanhood. Elena Pavan also shares more about the process of doing research using data scraped from online public discourse and the key questions going ahead for researchers and campaigners.

An illustrated journal and love letter to the feminists, hackers, women, gender-diverse, astrology-believers, radical nay-sayers, hikers, sleepers, vegans, beef-eaters, and everyone else who gathered in Nepal for the Take back the Tech and Feminist Tech Exchange camps in August 2018.

Beyond saying that we as activists and feminists need self-care, how do we reach this space within ourselves? Here is one person's journey.

What is the experience of living through frequent network shutdowns and bans on mobile internet in the context of Manipur, a region located northeast of India. This article reviews a report on shutdowns in the region, and explores the specific impacts on women, and more broadly on people living in a sensitive region. 

Of Sieges and Shutdowns draws upon 16 qualitative interviews and as many first-person accounts to unravel and document how unreliable mobile networks and intentional Internet shutdowns affect the lives of women in Manipur. The Bachchao Project conducted this study in late 2017 in Manipur with the support of Integrated Rural Development Service Organisation (IRDSO).

What does content moderation on social media actually entail - how much artificial intelligence and human labour is being used, who is responsible for decisions around the removal of content or about what complaints to ignore? An insider from social media companies shares 5 concise insights on how social media giants actually work. 

The Gendersec Curricula is a resource that introduces a holistic, feminist perspective to privacy and digital security trainings, informed by years of working with women and trans activists around the world. Informed by years of working with women and trans activists around the world, this free resource covers over 20 topics such as Hacking Hate Speech, Strategies of Resistance, Creative Uses of Social Media,Technological Sovereignty, Handling Anxiety, Releasing Physical Stress, Information Mapping and Identifying Risks.

This article maps the legal mechanisms to deal with online and technology-facilitated gender-based violence in the Philippines. While a number of laws have evolved to deal with forms of online abuse and violence, such as cyberbullying of students, there are still gaps in relation to what women are facing online. 

The clampdown on gays and non-heteronormative people in Tanzania has been in the news and while it seems like it is the agenda of certain groups and people in the government, it is essential to examine what are the privacy, data and censorship implications of targeting LGBTQIA+ people online.

Online abuse and harassment prevents women from realising their full rights online. In this article we look at specific instances of harassment of women online in Ghana, and what needs to be done to ensure full and meaningful internet access for women.

Take back the tech! worked closely with Luchadoras and SocialTic, campaigners in Mexico, to develop this list of manifestations of online gender-based violence based on case documentation.

Use it in your work and activism, and please share it widely!

This indepth article shares reflections on research with urban youth in Bangladesh on how they deal with cyber harassment and cyber bullying, particularly the experience of young women. The research led to the creation of a short informative animation aimed at youth that might feel helpless and alone when facing harassment online.

Astraea and TGEU are proud to release a new report, Mapping Digital Landscapes of Trans Activism in Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

Women in Ghana, ordinary women and celebrities, have dealt with harassment and violence online, but there is minimal effort by the government currently to effectively address this problem. The suggestion seems to be that self-censorship should solve such problems faced by women.