In depth

Sexual rights, openness and regulatory systems

Posted Thu 7 Oct 2010 - 06:03 | 8,142 views
The summary of the 'Sexual rights, openness and regulatory systems' workshop co-organized by APC WNSP, Centre for Internet and Society and Alternative Law Forum at the Internet Governance Forum(IGF) in Vilnius, Lithuania on September 14 2010. T.Q. from the Lebanon EroTICs team speaks about the history of the local queer movement which correlates with the development of the internet in Lebanon.…

Feminist talk

Lebanon: Queering the internet

Posted Mon 27 Sep 2010 - 02:26 | 7,941 views
Lebanon EroTICs team report-back to the local Meem group (www.meemgroup.org) about the IGF. She reflects on strategy and queer history on the Internet: "Last week, I went to Vilnius, Lithuania to represent the Lebanon team of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC)’s Exploratory Research Project into Sexuality and the Internet (EroTICs) at the…

Feminist talk

dot gay: what are the implications?

Posted Fri 17 Sep 2010 - 01:32 | 51,563 views
It was in a dynamic coalition session on freedom of expression and freedom of the media on the internet that Schubert announced that the domain name, “dot gay” was in the pipeline. The domain name hopes to incorporate all lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and queer sites under one domain. Nyx looks at who is excluded, and the potential impact of a 'dot gay' domain on queer communities.

Feminist talk

Why we should get over facebook

Posted Thu 16 Sep 2010 - 03:57 | 10,804 views
Social networking sites and privacy formed the main topics in two sessions Maya attended - but she found that the discussions were not grounded in research, that users were absent from the debates and tired assumptions dominated the rooms. What's needed, she argues, are more workable proposals that take into account a variety of research and based on how people actually use social networking…

Feminist talk

Reflecting on language and power

Posted Wed 15 Sep 2010 - 00:57 | 8,958 views
Looks at how power is played out in the language and terminology used in the IGF discussions, even when the theme of the discussion is "Internet governance and human rights: strategies and collaboration for empowerment".

Feminist talk

Close Encounters

Posted Tue 14 Sep 2010 - 17:41 | 9,231 views
This is the third time Maya is attending the Internet Governance Forum and she has never really expected anything too extraordinary to happen here. She finds her expectations challenged when she meets with two representatives of the ICM Registry and IFFOR (the International Foundation for Online Responsibility) at a session on Sexual Rightsi, Openness and Regulatory Systems - who are interested…

In depth

Internet Governance Issues on Sexuality and Women's Rights

Posted Thu 9 Sep 2010 - 19:11 | 18,858 views
The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) has been a challenging space for both women's rights advocates and for broader constituencies engaged in advocacy for gender equality and sexuality related rights. In the fifth and final year of its mandate, women's rights are still being dwarfed as a critical issue to be debated in this arena, while sexuality issues, although present, are not seen as a matter…

In depth

Internet regulation and the Brazilian EroTICs context

Posted Wed 2 Jun 2010 - 00:21 | 9,229 views
Authors Sonia Corrêa, Marina Maria and Jandira Queiroz document how gender and sexuality have been at the heart of internet regulation debates in Brazil. However, this centrality does not necessarily translate to the discourses, analysis and the political claims of social actors involved in sexual politics, on the one hand, and digital politics, on the other. In the authors' view, there is no…

In depth

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Internet?

Posted Wed 2 Jun 2010 - 00:21 | 9,798 views
"Clearly, one cannot speak of sexual rights activism in Lebanon without speaking at length about internet usage, as both are tied together at levels from personal identity and relationships to political activism and mobilization," claims Nadine Moawad, the APC's EroTICs project partner. In this article, she assesses the role of the internet in the rise of sexual rights activism in Lebanon, and…

In depth

‘Does your mother know?’ Agency, risk and morality in the online lives of young women in Mumbai

Posted Wed 2 Jun 2010 - 00:21 | 20,656 views
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…