IGF 2024 DC-Gender Can we re-imagine conversation apps without moderators?

    DC

    Dynamic Coalition on Gender and Internet Governance

    Roundtable
    Duration (minutes): 90
    Format description: A roundtable seating arrangement will be employed, redistributing power dynamics and fostering an egalitarian environment. This format is practical and effective for productive discussions, encouraging stakeholder participation while ensuring diverse voices are heard and considered without traditional hierarchies. The roundtable discussion will allow participants to challenge the concept of effective response through conventional content moderation. They will actively contribute to radically reimagining a new conceptual framework that strengthens these mechanisms. Regional perspectives, practical insights, and lived experiences will be effectively cross-shared.

    Description

    The censorship of sexual content on conversation apps inordinately impacts those belonging to marginalized groups: BIPOC women and girls, queer and transgender people, and sex workers. Guidelines for what is appropriate and inappropriate are determined by app developers–human and AI content moderators are trained on the basis of keywords and datasets which are inherently biased and cannot be representative of all communities, linguistic expressions, or historical expressions. For example, many sex workers have reported their posts or profiles being taken down from Instagram, even when they do not contain sexual content. Furthermore, conversations online are continuously evolving, and community guidelines are unable to keep up to date. The session is aimed at fostering a dialogue between multiple social justice stakeholders, on developing an alternate approach to content moderation and strengthening it to becomes an effective key response to online gender-based violence, online hate speech, and gendered disinformation.


    We will share a pre-planned agenda tol be followed, with both online and on-site moderators facilitating interaction between virtual and physical participants, as well as with speakers. The session will begin with a sharing segment, followed by breakout groups guided by speakers. Moderators will ensure equal opportunities for online and on-site participants to ask questions and share reflections, collecting on-site queries and consolidating online inputs from the Zoom chat. Live captions on Zoom will enhance accessibility.

    Organizers

    Megha Garg - Point of View - Civil Society - South Asia
    Prarthana Mitra - Point of View - Civil Society - South Asia
    Yashita Kandhari - Point of View - Civil Society - South Asia

    Speakers

    Jahnabi Mitra - Point of View - Academic - India, South Asia
    Shubha Kayastha - PhD researcher, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology - Academic - Nepal, South Asia
    Saritha Irugalbandara - Hashtag Generation - Civil society - Sri Lanka, South Asia
    Seerat Khan - Digital Rights Foundation - Civil society - Pakistan, South Asia
    Aindriya Barua - Shhor AI - Tech/Private sector - India, South Asia
    Anshumaan Sathe - Agents of Ishq - Press/Media - India, South Asia

    Onsite Moderator

    Megha Garg - Point of View - Civil Society - South Asia

    Online Moderator

    Prarthana Mitra - Point of View - Civil Society - South Asia

    Rapporteur

    Yashita Kandhari - Point of View - Civil Society - South Asia

    SDGs

    5. Gender Equality
    8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
    16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions


    Targets: The proposed session aligns with UN SDG 5, to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, as the dialogue seeks to foreground safety and security concerns for marginalized identities trying to occupy and reclaim online spaces, at a time when global data still indicates a digital gender divide on account of inaccess and self-censorship. Today, online harassment, hate speech, trolling and online image-based abuses are the key factors deterring women and girls from occupying digital spaces freely, and we are increasingly seeing the unequivocal failure of content moderation mechanisms to combat these deeply gendered issues. Relatedly, the session which expects radical reimagination of justice and redressal mechanisms in order to create a safe feminist internet for all, also aligns with SGD 8 & 16, to promote decent work for all (taking the human and environmental cost of huge content moderation farms into account) and also envisages the creation of peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.