Content Regulation and Censorship

The Internet Governance Forum ⁱ(IGF) has been a challenging space for both women's rightsⁱ advocates and for broader constituencies engaged in advocacyⁱ for gender equalityⁱ and sexuality related rights. In the fifth and final year of its mandate, women's rightsⁱ are still being dwarfed as a critical issue to be debated in this arena, while sexuality issues, although present, are not seen as a matter of rights. In preparation for this year's IGF, this briefing document highlights key issues on internetⁱ regulationⁱ that are relevant for gender ⁱequality and sexuality. It also brings to the debate findings from various research initiatives undertaken by APC and key partners, including a cross-country research initiative - EROTICS - that is being conducted in five countries: Brazil, India, Lebanon, South Africa and the United Stateⁱs.

A draft Bill proposing a ban on sexual content on the internetⁱ and cellphones submitted to the South African Department of Home Affairs in May 2010 claims to have the best interests of women and children in mind. The Bill was submitted to the Department, which oversees the Film and Publications Board, by a non-profit organisation called Justice Alliance of South Africa (JASA).

Heike Jensen and Sonia Randhawa, APC WNSP members participating in a gender ⁱteam of the OpenNet Initiative in Asia (ONI-Asia), talk about how censorship and gender interrelate. Since 2006, APC WNSP has taken a closer look at internetⁱ censorship and surveillanceⁱ practices from a gender perspective in order to develop a gender research framework for examining freedom of expressionⁱ, security and privacyⁱ for ONI project partners in Asia, as well as future research initiatives that are looking into the area of content regulationⁱ. ONI-Asia is part of a larger OpenNet Initiative, a collaborative project that aims to investigate, expose and analyse internet filtering and surveillance practices.