Freedom of expression
Given that digital technologies and the laws and norms that govern them have the potential to perpetuate and worsen pre-existing structural inequalities, APC and Derechos Digitales believe that a central element of this future convention should be the integration of a gender perspective.
APC believes that a feminist approach to data and datafication examines the nature of data and constantly resists disembodiment of data. It is centred on the understanding that the consequences of data and datafication are embodied, with individuals and communities facing those consequences.
In response to the violence they face online, women censor themselves, stepping back from conversations online and sometimes exiting online spaces entirely. At times, however, they continue to speak and exist online but alter their speech and behaviour to comply with perceived social norms.
In spite of expanding awareness on online and technology-facilitated gender-based violence, there has only been an increase in the violence online in the last decade. Feminist research points to ways to address this ongoing challenge.
India imposed 84 internet shutdowns in 2022, the highest number globally for the fifth year in a row. APC joins a global civil society coalition to urgently ask the Indian government to create meaningful safeguards for citizens' digital rights and ensure unfettered access to an open, secure and reliable internet.
Last year saw the highest number of internet shutdowns ever recorded. Such enforced digital darkness is a slippery slope of easy authoritarianism that we see spreading globally, one that countries like India, with the world's highest number of shutdowns, are using to gain undemocratic compliance from their citizens.
Sex workers in South Africa moved to the internet to seek clients as the offline opportunities dwindled due to the pandemic-induced lockdown. But they face previously unknown challenges with the prevalent online gender-based violence in the country.
This presentation was jointly delivered by Joana Varon (Coding Rights) and Valeria Betancourt (APC) at the Global Digital Compact Americas Multistakeholder Consultation held in Mexico City on 15-16 February 2023 to discuss the challenges, opportunities and priorities of the region.
This year's Commission on the Status of Women is the first ever to focus on gender equality and digital technologies. Here is APC's recommended reading list to help us all prepare for the discussions at CSW67.
The overregulation of women's and gender-diverse folks' bodies in South Asian culture has found its way into online spaces and heavily polices how bodily autonomy is expressed and regarded. Seerat Khan discusses barriers to this autonomy and their impact on self-expression.
Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2022
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