Feminist talk

Pakistan government has recently introduced various laws to curb online violence. However, the undemocratic processes with which these laws have been drafted point towards their ability to directly target citizens' civil liberties on the internet. Moaz Bhangu speaks to women content creators who have been self-censoring to stay safe online.

Algorithm bias manifests itself in unique ways every single day, affecting people of colour. Fungai Machirori explores how big tech corporations misidentify renowned Black women - error that continues to exist despite various alarms around the said bias.

Women make up half the population of Pakistan, and yet they're routinely denied access to identification documents based on patriarchal and archaic policies that reject any sense of autonomy over their personhood independent of men around them. Zainab Durrani speaks to some of the women who were subjected to these policies.

Governments and corporations have collected people's data for decades to dictate the kind of services each person would have access to. This data is more often than not rooted in colonialist practices and attitudes towards collection and processing of this information. Seerat Khan discusses the implications and way forward in this article.

With the introduction of Threads by Meta, there's a need to question whether adding another social media platform to the list of online spaces contributes to the existing problems that women face on the internet, or is it a step in the right direction?

Women gamers in Pakistan struggle to play safely amidst increasing online harassment they face in online gaming communities in the country. Momina Mindeel speaks to some women gamers to understand the extent of this violence and the strategies they employ to remain safe.

Habash from Egypt explores the relationship between feminism and blockchain technologies in a curious and critical review of possibilities emergent in DAOs and DisCos. They accompany us through several iterations and thought experiments on political organisation and theory in the realms of web3.

Journalist, Yara el Murr, from Lebanon presents a case study of kotobli, a book discovery platform that counters colonial algorithms used in searching for books about the SWANA region. She details how Big Tech favours publishers and authors from the Global North and presents the challenges and opportunities of working with local publishers and authors to change this.

Open-source advocate from Jordan, Raya Sharbain, makes the case for digital self-defence to support sexual rights and reproductive justice movements amidst growing crackdowns and threats. She elaborates on use of secure and protective technologies to share and access information critical to feminist movements.

Tunisian researcher, Afef Abrougui, writes about the perils of AI-enhanced technologies deployed by authoritarian regimes in the region towards increased surveillance and predictive policing. She raises important questions about the readiness of civil society in the MENA to respond to these dangers and what is needed to preserve privacy and human rights in the coming…