Publication

Podcast series | A Feminist Social Media Future: How Do We Get There?

Posted Mon 29 Mar 2021 - 14:29 | 2,956 views

To reclaim the emancipatory potential of social media for feminist transformation, we need urgent action along two fronts – a global normative benchmarking exercise that leads to new content moderation standards grounded in women's human rights, and techno-design alternatives for the creation of decolonized network infrastructures.

Feminist talk

How to use social media for activism [VIDEO]

Posted Thu 23 Aug 2018 - 04:19 | 3,142 views
Here are tips and insights on how to use social media for activism and movement-building, on how to use internet and social media to amplify your cause. In this video Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah touches on several instances of how social media can and has been used by African feminists, and especially describing popular campaigns and hashtags on Twitter

Feminist talk

Toxic Twitter: Amnesty International report on social media and online violence

Posted Mon 18 Jun 2018 - 03:21 | 8,811 views
Twitter, in particular, can be a powerful tool for women to make connections and express themselves - from high-level female politicians to journalists, activists, writers and bloggers, to women who simply want to know what’s happening around them. It is allegedly the space where ‘every voice has the power to impact the world’. But as revealed by the report by Amnesty International, Twitter is…

Feminist talk

Politics of a feminist internet in Zimbabwe: Resistance and Silence

Posted Tue 26 Sep 2017 - 09:59 | 4,574 views

In this article Anthea Taderera looks at the personal and political meaning and potentials of a feminist internet. What does it mean to imagine and create a black, African feminist space with room for archiving, theorising and engagement away/free from the surveillance and regulation of state and private parties alike?

Feminist talk

[COLUMN] How womxn in the Global South are RECLAIMING SOCIAL MEDIA to celebrate being queer

Posted Fri 22 Sep 2017 - 03:36 | 7,788 views
In her third column, Samukelisiwe Mabaso explores how groups and people, artists and performers who are lesbian, gay, bisexual are using the internet and social media to spread messages about love, diversity, and acceptance. This includes projects like Coalition for African Lesbians, Gaysi, Ahwaa and others.

Feminist talk

[COLUMN] Access and beyond (4): Gendered barriers to internet use

Posted Fri 14 Jul 2017 - 03:53 | 6,959 views
Gendered barriers to internet access can range from social and cultural barriers imposed within family or by partners to extraneous factors relevant to all - such as affordability of data and devices. In this column Chenai Chair examines the specificity of how access is different for women and men.

Feminist talk

[COLUMN] How women in the Global South are RECLAIMING SOCIAL MEDIA to promote body positivity

Posted Tue 11 Jul 2017 - 04:54 | 7,899 views
In this column, Samukelisiwe explores how women in the global South have started using social media to make up for the lack of representation of black and brown women in mainstream media. Women of colour, people with disability, gender non conforming persons and others now use the internet to explore their image and their body, and form communities that celebrate different ways of being.

Feminist talk

[COLUMN] Access and Beyond (3): Navigating mobile costs in communication

Posted Thu 15 Jun 2017 - 11:38 | 6,762 views
Africa is flooded with zero rating services such as Free Basics (Facebook’s zero rating scheme) and other subsidised data strategies. Do these schemes make internet more affordable and bring access to more people? In this column Chenai Chair examines whether ordinary people perceive such schemes as useful.

Feminist talk

[COLUMN] How women in the global south are RECLAIMING SOCIAL MEDIA to combat femicide

Posted Thu 8 Jun 2017 - 06:11 | 7,811 views
In this new column on reclaiming social media for addressing women's issues and feminist concerns, Samukelisiwe Mabaso begins by looking at the rising rates of femicide in South Africa (and other parts of the world). Various spontaneous movements led and powered by women have arisen and use technology and social media to amplify their voices and ensure their demands are met.

In depth

Did Facebook finally figure out that consent is more important than nipples?

Posted Wed 3 May 2017 - 05:57 | 6,850 views
In April 2017 Facebook announced a new tool that will prevent an intimate image posted without consent from being shared further on Facebook, Messenger and Instagram. Erika Smith and Fungai Machirori go deep and debate the pros and cons of this proposed system, and how feminist-friendly and positive about alternate sexualities it is.