Whereas online speech platforms like social media websites, blogs, and discussion forums set the stage for unprecedented levels of public engagement in relevant policy discourses, the widespread prevalence of abusive, threatening, and otherwise hostile content threatens to seriously hinder the efficient utilization of these critical speech platforms. This report is a compilation of findings from a year of research, and attempts to provide an insight into relevant national and socio-political factors influencing exploitative uses of the Internet.

To mark the occasion, the release of the report will be followed by a panel discussion featuring legislators, law enforcement agents, industry representatives, civil society actors and other stakeholders in the field. The panel will discuss the issue of online harassment in context of the report, and will address such topics as trends in online speech, self-regulation vs. state-regulation as a means to curb online harassment, potential areas of stakeholder engagement, and awareness generation and capacity building initiatives among others.

We cordially invite you to join us for the release of the report, and also for the subsequent panel discussion.