Gender, free speech, censorship
Under the larger issue of Freedom of expression
Censorship on the Internet is frequently justified by concerns to safeguard morality or protect women. But do existing laws and initiatives support women in actual practice in confronting the considerable challenges that they face online? We investigate.
Be it online or offline, censorship measures are frequently justified by concerns to safeguard morality or protect women. While the Internet provides women with important new opportunities to express themselves, it is true that the medium also poses them with considerable challenges as old forms of harassment materialise in new shapes online. Cyberstalking and the gendered online abuse that women on the Internet face are perhaps the two most prominent examples of this.
To ensure that women’s rights are protected online as well, targeted measures may therefore at times be required. But whether existing measures actually support women in confronting the considerable challenges they face remains a question. What are women’s existing strategies to deal with abuse and harassment they face online? What do they require from the law to fight such abuse? And do India’s existing laws support them in their battles, or does the law actually curtail their ability to take their fate in their own hands? Where possibly well-intended measures end up restricting free speech in ways beyond the strictly necessary and legitimate, they only become counterproductive, as it is precisely in its potential to give women — as all of us — voice that one of the great strengths of the Internet lies.
It is such questions, then, that the Internet Democracy Project examines in greater depth. Read on to find out more.
Posts & Publications
Our work on bodies and data is featured on The Swaddle. Watch the videos and listen to the podcast here!
What’s sex got to do with it? Mapping the impact of questions of gender and sexuality on the evolution of the digital rights landscape in India
Deep Impact: COVID-19, surveillance technology and marginalised identities
New video: Data is an extension of our bodies
Call for papers: ‘Imagine a Feminist Internet: Research, Practice and Policy in South Asia’
India’s data protection draft ignores key next-generation rights
Rangoli as a way to explore networks
Policing online abuse or policing women? Our submission to the United Nations on online violence against women
Gender, digital rights and ‘revenge porn’: A tweet chat of Dr. Anja Kovacs with Deep Dives
IGF 2016: A tale of victories – and new challenges
Facebook responds to Nameless Coalition petition, but leaves a lot to be desired
ICANN’s plans to strip anonymity from website owners puts already vulnerable Internet users at further risk
The naked truth: Why banning online pornography is a bad idea
Keeping women safe? Gender, online harassment and Indian law
Rediff and rape threats: What rediff could have done to support Kavita Krishnan, target of online abuse
‘Don’t Let It Stand!’ An Exploratory Study of Women and Verbal Online Abuse in India.
Sexuality and the Internet: A five country perspective – #EROTICSIndia
‘Choli ke peeche kya kai?’: Censorship and pornography – #EROTICSIndia
Gendered abuse online – #EROTICSIndia
‘Wearing a digital condom’: Staying safe online – #EROTICSIndia
Passwords: Your first line of defence – #EROTICSIndia
Security risks online: How much information do you give away? – #EROTICSIndia
#MisogynyAlert: A critique
#MisogynyAlert: Principles for engagement
Mechanics and governance of the Internet – #EROTICSIndia
Women, sexuality and the Internet – #EROTICSIndia
Five principles for a feminist approach to technology – #EROTICSIndia
#EROTICSIndia: Meet the Participants
“What is your price for the night?”: From “sexual strangers” to “sexual citizens” using ICTs
‘Spitting, Swallowing and Gargling’: How does online abuse work?
Why we need a #MisogynyAlert hashtag on the Net
The Praagaash Row: An attack on free speech
Section 66A, sexual harassment and women’s rights
Faced online speech that made you uncomfortable as a woman? Share your experience with us
The Internet, democracy and the feminist movement