freedom of expression

GenderIT.org correspondent Mavic Cabrera-Balleza interviews Yara Sallam, Manager of the Women Human Rights Defenders Program at Nazra for Feminist Studies in Egypt, on the challenging reality for women human rights defenders, how they are affected by measures taken by the government in the name of “national security”, and strategies used to address threats to WHRD's cybersecurity.

Jennifer Radloff and Grady Johnson speak to a Syrian activist in exile about the government increasing tendency to securitize the internet and crack down freedom of expression and freedom to privacy on-line. They also talk how limited access to ICTs, self-censorship due to widespread surveillance and reliance on commercial social networks in combination with a general lack of technical knowledge…

In a context where the debate around digital security tends to be focused on national security and counter-terrorism measures, civil society faces the important challenge of claiming a space for women human rights defenders (WHRD). Margarita Salas of Genderit.org spoke with Wojtek Bogusz and Tara Madden of Front Line Defenders to discuss some of the key challenges they have identified in their…

The Seventh Internet Governance Forum will be taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan from 6 to 9 November 2012. GenderIT.org writer Zooey Schock spoke with veteran activist Dr Leyla Yunus about internet freedom and the ability to organise in post-Soviet Asia.

The statement developed by the Women's Legal Bureau (WLB) in response to the Cybercrime Bill. WLB highlights the specific women's rights concerns in relation to the bill, in particular warn that the law can be used to further perpetuate violence against women. They are still in the process of gathering support and you are invited to sign on to show your support to the cause.

The recent passage of the Philippine Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (or the Republic Act 10175) has elicited strong negative reactions from various stakeholders. Civil society organizations (CSOs), academe, journalists, bloggers, and Filipino netizens have expressed great concern over certain provisions of the law that impinged their constitutional right to freedom of expression. To date,…

A Feminist talk entry published in GenderIT.org (in Portuguese) started an interesting exchange related to the complex fields of freedom of expression, censorship, hate speech, legal remedies, and ICT related violence against women. You must be asking yourself what it was about, in order to start such a complex debate. Well, it all starts with a map.

Uganda’s Government websites were hacked and defaced earlier this month. The hacksters asserted that their actions were to protest the Ugandan Government persecution of the LGBTI community of Uganda where being gay is considered criminal and where legislation is pending Uganda’s parliament that would impose harsh prison penalties on gay people, including the death sentence for so called “…

The Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD IC) has expressed deep concern regarding the safety of five staff from the Uganda sex worker organization, Women’s Organization Network for Human Rights Advocacy (WONETHA). On May 7, police authorities raided WONETHA's small office and arrested two staff and three members. The staff members face ongoing harassment and criminal…

For those of you that don't know the appalling vitriol that Anita Sarkeesian has been subject to, you can read a summary of it here. It's worrying that there are people out there who are capable of perpetrating this campaign of hatred. But what's more worrying is that we don't seem to know what to do…