Session Title: From ‘Fake News’ to Internet Shutdowns; A Look at World Trends in Freedom of Expression Online
Date: Thursday, 21 December 2017
Time: 10:20 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.
Session Organizer: Rachel Pollack Ichou, UNESCO
Chair/Moderator: Rachel Pollack Ichou, UNESCO
Rapporteur/Notetaker: Chris Buckridge, RIPE NCC
List of Speakers and their institutional affiliations:
Anna Karefelt, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)
Guilherme Canela Godoi, UNESCO
Florence Poznanski, Internet sans frontières
Cláudio Lucena, Paraíba State University
Peter Micek, Access Now
Bishakha Datta, Point of View
Thomas Schneider, Swiss Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM)
Key Issues raised (1 sentence per issue):
If there were presentations during the session, please provide a 1-paragraph summary for each presentation:
Discussions that took place during the workshop session (3 paragraphs):
Participant suggestions regarding the way forward/ potential next steps/key takeaways (3 paragraphs):
Gender Reporting
Estimate the overall number of the participants present at the session: 116 (based on Sched)
Estimate the overall number of women present at the session:
To what extent did the session discuss gender equality and/or women’s empowerment?
Very much / gender responsive
If the session addressed issues related to gender equality and/or women’s empowerment, please provide a brief summary of the discussion:
The session featured a rich discussion of challenges to achieving gender equality online, particularly related to gender-based online harassment and abuse that has actively diminished women’s freedom of expression. Speakers cited studies and examples from several countries indicating that women have often restricted their own Internet activity due to threats and harassment online.
