censorship
In depth
A Women's 'Commons'? An Exploratory Dialogue on the Potential of the Knowledge Commons for Women
The idea of the 'commons' has been contestedly understood as being both a principle of understanding content and creative products, and a community that supports the sharing of information and creative content. It is also directly linked with subverting current Intellectual Property Rights paradigms, where ownership and control of information, knowledge, and content has been commodified. So what...
In depth
Culture, local traditions, and taboo - Challenges to the full expression of women’s voices
Popular communicators that work in community radio-telecentres in different states of Brazil talk about their achievements and apprehensions concerning the complete freedom to express themselves. As members of the Cyberela Network (Red Cyberela) developed by the feminist organisation Cemina, the communicators explain the reasons behind their self-censorship and how they gradually overcome taboos...
In depth
Tools for Communication Rights in Malaysia
Jac sm Kee speaks with one of the most vocal media and communication rights advocates in Malaysia, Sonia Randhawa, through an online messenger platform about motivations, communication technologies, rights, democracy, tactics and gender. Sonia currently sits as the Executive Director of the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ). Apart from conducting regular trainings on independent media and...
Publication
Sex, Social Mores, and Keyword Filtering: Microsoft Bing in the "Arabian Countries"
Microsoft’s Bing tailors its search engine to serve different countries and regions and offers its services in 41 languages. It has a filtering system at the keyword level for users in several countries. Users in the Arab countries are prevented from conducting certain search queries in both English and Arabic. <br />
<br />The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) (a collaboration of the Citizen...
Publication
Review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action - Report of the Secretary-General
The UN Secretary-General's report (E/CN.6/2010/2) in preparation for the 54th Commission on the Status of Women who undertook the 15 year review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (BpfA), including the section J – Women and Media. Media and ICT are mentioned throughout the Report as important tools for awareness raising and information dissemination, for example, under...
Publication
Where is Women´s “J” Spot?
As the international community prepares to join the United Nation’s 49th Session of the Commission on the Status on Women (CSW), women media practitioners are asking: where is women’s “J” spot? Commonly known as “Beijing +10,” the role of the official UN session is to evaluate what governments have done to implement the Platform for Action (PFA) of the Fourth World Conference on Women 10 years...
Publication
Argentina: Violence against Women and Information Communication Technologies
Cristina Peralta examines the situation in Argentina, where few cases of VAW using ICTs have been denounced. One study found that a small percentage of young girls had been contacted by unknown people via chat or Facebook before disappearing. Cell phones are also used for controlling women's mobility and have become one of the first artifacts to be destroyed by the partner during violent...
Publication
Malaysia: Violence against Women and Information Communication Technologies
Jac SM Kee and Sonia Randhawa highlight forms of VAW that have received recognition in Malaysia and provide the context of ICT development and national policy objectives in this paper. It is not an exhaustive assessment of the current state of VAW, but rather aims to surface some of the interconnections between ICT issues and VAW and areas of potential opportunities for advocacy, as well as...
Publication
Uganda: Violence against Women and Information Communication Technologies
Aramanzan Madanda, Berna Ngolobe and Goretti Zavuga Amuriat look at how ICTs have been used to help provide spaces for women and sexual minorities. Sexual minorities have a presence on the internet to articulate concerns of members and raise awareness. Women’s mobile phone use is controlled by their husbands, who either give or withold permission to use and dictate when and how. Some women have...
Publication
South Africa: Violence against Women and ICT
Two key debates are examined in the paper by Shereen Essof: censorship versus freedom of expression and privacy versus surveillance. She looks at the practices of VAW in a country with the world's highest reported rate of femicide and where there is little understanding of the strategic use of ICTs to support combating VAW as well as recognizing new avenues for perpetrating violence against...
