AWID Condemns Online Attacks and Stands in Solidarity with the Association for Progressive Communications

AWID strongly condemns the recent online attacks targeting the #TakeBacktheTech and #ImagineAFeministInternet hashtags and associated initiatives during a tweet chat organized by the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Best Practice Forum on Countering Online Violence and Abuse.

Since 9 October 2014 users associated with the #Gamergate hashtag have attempted to hijack the #TakeBacktheTech hashtag by posting false claims about the work of the Association for Progressive Communication, threats targeting feminist and internet rights activists and images that depict women being subjected to physical and sexual violence. These attacks are a large-scale, coordinated and malicious attempt to destabilize a conversation on creating and reclaiming feminist spaces online and are symptomatic of escalating threats against feminist and internet rights activists using online spaces to discuss safeguards in preventing technology based violence.

We stand in solidarity with Take Back the Tech, the Association for Progressive Communications, and all feminists and internet rights activists participating in the chat who were subject to the attacks. We support their important efforts to conceptualize and create feminist online spaces, and are grateful for their contributions to our community’s online safety and security.

As part of our strong support for holistic security for all women, AWID strongly believes that digital security is a prerequisite for feminist movement building and ensuring a safe and enabling environment for women human rights defenders. With our members and allies, AWID is committed to contributing to building a safe and secure feminist internet.

We call on all AWID members to show solidarity with APC and other’s efforts to create feminist online spaces by expressing their views on why such efforts are critical to holistic security for all women and oppressed peoples. We also urge our members to condemn any misogynist online threats or attacks aimed at preventing the creation of a feminist Internet.