censorship

Manjima Bhattacharjya and Maya Ganesh, the India partner of the APC's EroTICs Project, open their input with the evocative lyrics of a Swedish pop group ABBA: “And I can chat with you baby / Flirt a little, maybe / But does your mother know that you’re out ?” This article is about middle-class women digital natives in Mumbai, the city with the highest internet use in India, and the initial…

In this article, Kevicha Echols and Melissa Ditmore from Sex Work Awareness (SWA), researchers for the APC's EroTICs project, investigate the use of filters on public library computers with internet access. People in the United States (US) enjoy a great deal of access to information in print and online media due to the first amendment of the US constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech,…

Jeanne Prinsloo, the APC's EroTICs project partner in South Africa, looks at the use of the internet by South African transgender people, and examines the internet's role in the process of transitioning from one gender identity to another. She concludes that the internet provides a critical space for trans people to access support, to rehearse their new identity, to hear marginalised narratives…

Sonia Randhawa interviews FemLINK Pacific coordinator Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls to get an overview of violence against women in the Pacific Islands region and to look at how ICTs are contributing to increasing the vulnerability of women and providing new forms of harassment and harm, while at the same time grassroots initiatives such as a mobile community radio station are helping to provide women…

In assessing cyber crime legislation, policy makers and gender and development advocates must carefully consider the implications for privacy and information security. On the one hand, ICT have created opportunities to combat inequality through movements and communities against issues that were once deemed 'private', such as domestic violence and sex trafficking. On the other hand, ICT…

The different forms of online violence against women should be covered by criminal legislation to provide adequate protection and redress. However, laws are not enough. There is also a need for education, prevention, the development of defence mechanisms and a legal system that is capable of addressing these issues without subjecting the victims to further victimisation. Carlos Gregorio, a…

Are you troubled by pornographic materials on the internet? Do you consider it damaging? Or is it a valid expression of fantasy orof diverse forms of sexualities? Have you been harmed by sexually explicit and/or violent content through information and communications technologies? How have you dealt with this in your own use of the internet, mobilephone etc.?

What does it take to regulate content on the internet? The apparently unruly character and development of the internet and accompanying technologies have been argued as defeating any efforts to truly govern how content is circulated in this space. Nonetheless, censorship and regulation is real. Here, Jorge Bossio examines various categorisations of content that enables their regulation, as well…

Who decides on what we should see and not see online? Should parents decide on behalf of their children? Or should it be the church? Or the school? Are women and children better left alone? Mavic Cabrera-Balleza, Senior Programme Associate of the International Women’s Tribune Centre and a member of the GenderIt blogging team at the first Internet Governance Forum (IGF) that took place in Athens,…

As both a mirror and an extension of social relationships, the internet’s virtual space differentiates itself from traditional media by its decentralised and open architecture. This subverts power relationships between citizens, institutions, governments and markets. Confusion. Impunity. Unbounded freedom. Can and should this anthill be organised? What is the ethical reach of doing so? This…