Session
Cybersecurity, Cybercrime & Online Safety
New Technologies and Risks to Online Security
Online Hate Speech and Rights of Vulnerable People
Organizer 1: Caroline Cooney, U.S. Department of State
Organizer 2: Alison Balzer, U.S. Department of State
Organizer 3: Cailin Crockett, Senior Advisor, Gender Policy Council
Organizer 4: Jennifer Klein, White House Gender Policy Council
Speaker 1: Vera Zakem, Government, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 2: Lucina Di Meco, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Rachel Grant, Government, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Jennifer Klein, Government, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Alison Balzer, Government, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Jennifer Klein, Government, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Round Table - 90 Min
A. How can we promote international consensus on best practices within a multistakeholder framework to ensure women, girls, and gender nonconforming individuals can safely participate online, including women in politics and public life?
B. What are best practices, policies, and strategies for government, civil society and industry to apply “safety by design” approaches to reduce technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV)?
C. How does the proliferation of AI tools for the creation of “deepfake”, non-consensual images, video and voice impact safety-by-design approaches?
What will participants gain from attending this session? Participants and attendees will take part in a conversation on building an international consensus on why a “safety by design” approach can build a safer online experience for women and girls. They will gain both societal and technological insights from a multistakeholder group on the importance of incorporating a “safety by design” approach to ensure women and girls can meaningfully participate in digital spaces. They will be part of the discussion on how to construct accountability mechanisms to measure the outcomes of this approach.
Description:
The Global Partnership for Action on Gender Based Online Harassment and Abuse (a coalition of twelve member states plus a multistakeholder group of global experts, including from the global south), the Cyberspace and Digital Policy Bureau, the Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Bureau, and the Office of Global Women’s Issues from the United States Department of State propose a session on building a safe online environment for women and girls by preventing Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV). This session would discuss how this threat can be addressed through a “safety by design” approach to online platforms, with an aim to highlight what this approach should look like to counter the unique risks experienced by women and LGBTQI+ political and public figures, including through emerging technologies. TFGBV prevents women, girls, and LGBTQI+ persons from enjoying their human rights and fundamental freedoms, and impedes their participation in economic, social, cultural, and political affairs online, which also permeate offline. Preventing TFGBV and reducing risks for online harms by such individuals is essential for promoting meaningful connectivity—so that as we work to close the gender digital divide, as women and girls gain access to ICT, they can experience the benefits of digital technology fully, freely and safely. Authoritarian and anti-gender actors use TFGBV tactics to destabilize societies and undermine democratic values.
This session's theory of change revolves around what works to promote a safe online environment for women, girls, and gender nonconforming individuals, and includes examples of existing good practices from both government and the wider multi-stakeholder community. The session will facilitate a conversation between industry, civil society, and government participants to share “safety by design” approaches and examples of how it is already used to ensure the safe participation of women and girls in online spaces, especially to prevent and protect against TFGBV.
1. Convene a global community of experts to build consensus around the need for multistakeholder approaches to designing safe and transparent online environments that enable women, girls and gender nonconforming individuals to fully participate online, including women in politics and public life.
2. Identify good practice from a multistakeholder discussion on how government, civil society and industry can work together to scale effective approaches to reducing threats, harassment and abuse experienced by women, girls, and gender nonconforming individuals, online, through tailored approaches to safety-by-design that consider the unique risks to particular sub-groups, such as political and public figures and activists.
3. Through these recommendations and lessons learned, build the foundation for a subsequent framework on safety-by-design approaches to counter TFGBV, particularly against women and LGBTQI+ public figures, and considering emerging risks and threats particularly posed by AI.
Hybrid Format: It is expected that some of the key participants will also participate remotely, and their contribution will be projected into the room, a function managed by the onsite moderator. There will be an online moderator to help engage online speakers in the onsite conversation, which will enable a productive experience for all participants since they can now benefit from insights from those who might not have been able to travel.