Gender Justice and the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression

This is an APC's contribution to the issue of gender justice and its intersection with the right to freedom of opinion and expression from a feminist perspective. APC acknowledges that technology-mediated environments can hinder expression by exacerbating gender-based violence against women and other people who experience multiple and intersecting forms of exclusion and discrimination in all spheres of human interaction. It also acknowledged that a deep understanding of ICT-related implications is crucial to thwarting potential risks of gender-based violence and its impacts on freedom of expression and opinion.

It highlighted some recommendations that resulted from the research work and shared some good practices to combat online gender-based violence and reinforce the exercise of the rights related to this mandate.

It reflects the main barriers, challenges and threats that result in the curtailment of expression and the chilling effect it has on a wide range of rights, including sexual rights, the right to participate in public affairs, and the right to be free from discrimination, among others. This was done by reviewing the repercussions that gendered disinformation has on women's public participation, activism and work.

The submission also identified the role of governments and social media platforms. It offered recommendations to adopt an integrated approach to gendered disinformation as a problem related to but different from gender-based online violence.