RightsCon Tunis 2019

Access to online platforms enables women to transgress physical boundaries and connect with audiences across the world. However, this is typically compounded by online misogynistic and vitriolic gendered harassment and abuse. Freemuse's first-of-its-kind report into women’s right to artistic freedom in the digital age indicates that women feel coerced into restricting their opinions and art on social media platforms and websites due to the high probability of online abuse. Our RightsCon session will present recommendations from Freemuse's report directed towards various actors in the international community, artists and digital companies, and will analyze international/national policy frameworks in parallel with community guidelines presented by online platforms to ascertain the legal foundation of the harassment towards women in the digital age. The session will discuss the role of community guidelines in restricting women’s right to artistic freedom, the challenges for the international community to hold digital companies accountable, and human rights law facilitating restrictions for women’s artistic freedom in the digital world. Speakers include David Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression; Deji Olukotun, Head of Social Impact at Sonos; Srirak Plipat, Executive Director of Freemuse; a woman artist and a human rights expert in the field of digital rights.