At the end of June I attended a workshop organised by the Centre for Studies on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information (CELE) at the University of Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the topic “Digital violence and hate speech”, which dealt with the tensions between advocates for freedom of expression and the victims of online violence against women (VAW).
A trainer from Fundación Karisma in Colombia headed up the workshop, which brought together participants from Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay, Honduras, Chile, Brazil and other Latin American countries.
The trainer went through an explanation of the right to freedom of expression, its limits, and the role that anonymity plays in that field, especially when it comes to online VAW. She also shared the gobsmacking data that 74% of countries (out of 84 surveyed) are doing nothing to stop online violence, according to Web Index statistics.
“The internet offers possibilities but it also amplifies the inequalities,” the trainer stated. Young LGBT people experience three times more online harassment than other young users. Female journalists and women human rights defenders are also frequently among the targets of online violence and hate speech.
Read the full Feminist Talk in GenderIT.org .