freedom of religion
Shia Muslims are constantly at risk of being targeted with violence online and offline for their religious belief. And when Shia women and queer folks go online, they find themselves at risk of being targeted with abuse from multiple fronts as their two identities combine.
In Iran, women are protesting to demand bodily autonomy and their right to live, in the wake of the state-backed murder of a 22-year-old Mahsa Amini by the morality police. The government is responding by killing more women, attacking protestors and censoring the internet to contain the information.
APC welcomes the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief's focus on the use of hateful rhetoric in digital spaces to incite violence against religious minorities, which is of particular concern in India, where women especially are subjected to hate speech and threats online and offline.
This research report seeks to draw out the analytical category of "hated speech" by looking at experiences and observations of what it means to speak truth to power and receive hate as it is manifested through varying degrees of violence, across a variety of instances.
The ban on hijabs in classrooms and campuses, which has begun in Karnataka and threatens to spread to other states in India, is a hate crime. We unequivocally stand in solidarity with Muslim women, whether or not they wear hijabs, to be treated with respect and to enjoy the full gamut of rights.
How do we build a caste-sensitive internet? The third session of the Challenge lecture series explored strategies and reflections on the challenges and opportunities to create an online experience that is truly freeing and inclusive to everyone, regardless of caste.
The second session of the Challenge Lecture Series 2021, “Decolonising media, communications and technology studies: An (anti)caste perspective”, addressed how analysis of the media on caste issues does not take into consideration how embedded and structural caste practices are in this field.
The Challenge Lecture Series 2021 which began on 6 August 2021, aims to explore how caste is studied and analysed in the current context of media and technology and make recommendations on new approaches to fully understand caste and analyse how it affects societies across the world.
How is the centuries-old practice of caste being re-manifested in today’s digital cultures? How can we make a truly caste-sensitive media and internet? To explore these questions and more, join us for this upcoming lecture series hosted by APC's Challenge project, beginning 6 August.
This volume showcases various perspectives on the right to freedom of expression and speech in the Asia-Pacific region, including contributions from Gayatri Khandhadai, APC's Asia policy regional coordinator, and Shubha Kayastha, director of Body and Data, an APC member organisation in Nepal.

Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2022
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