Deepfakes, threats, doxing (disclosure of personal information), hate speech via troll and bot farms, use of viralizable hashtags, fake news with gender bias and non-consensual distribution of intimate content. The panorama of digital violence against women is increasingly broad and dark. And even if it is increasing, most Latin American states do not have legal frameworks to protect them against this type of violence, which tends to be minimized, even if it leaves serious physical and psychological consequences.
It is enough to recall cases like that of the Mexican Olimpia Coral, who made three suicide attempts after an ex-partner broadcast intimate videos of her; or anxiety about the obstacles women face when using digital platforms when non-consensual information continues to be disseminated. So far, only efforts such as the Olimpia Law and the Belén Law are known, in Mexico and Argentina, respectively. But we need a body of law that covers all facets of violence in digital environments and those who are responsible for it.
This is the void that the Inter-American Model Law to Combat Digital Violence Against Women, which launched today in Brazil, seeks to fill. The tool was designed by the Committee of Experts of the Follow-up Mechanism of the Convention of Belém do Pará (MESECVI), of the OAS. And today, the ministers and national authorities of the States Parties that have ratified the Convention of Belém do Pará will receive it in Fortaleza. It is a document meeting the highest legal standards in this area so that congresses, governments and the judicial system of countries in the region can use it as a guide and basis in the protection of women from violence in digital environments.
The responsibility of platforms
The most innovative aspect of this model law is that it establishes clear obligations for digital platforms and internet intermediaries to promptly remove violent or non-consensual content, design transparency measures, preserve evidence, and establish avenues for cooperation with authorities.
The law emphasizes that the dignity of women must be above economic interests, as it highlights that monetization models based on increased traffic and dissemination of platform content, even shared without consent, have facilitated practices that enable profit “through the creation, dissemination or commercialization of misogynistic or violent digital content, in which the damage and exposure of victims becomes a source of economic profit.”
“We not only want them to be co-responsible for the obligation not to harm women, but also to be transparent in their policies aimed at preventing this type of violence from occurring in digital environments,” explains Mónica Maureira, vice-president of the Mesecvi expert committee. The Chilean expert adds that it is a “digital governance model” that involves intermediaries who design digital violence detection processes in which human staff trained using an intersectional approach participate.
Specific mechanisms under the law include, for example, that platforms must provide accessible and effective procedures for users to report; respond to government requests issued by competent authorities by precautionary measures to remove or restrict content and by court order; and there is automatic labeling, using algorithms designed to detect content that may constitute digital violence against women.
Around a thousand entities and specialists from various sectors from eight Latin American countries participated in the construction of this tool, which lasted three years. UN Women and the European Union have also been involved in the process with their Let’s Act program to end violence against women; the Italian Republic and various digital rights organizations and specialists.
The faces of digital violence
This law addresses a wide range of digital violence, including that already occurring with artificial intelligence. This ranges from coercion aimed at facilitating or helping a woman commit suicide, through the use of digital technologies; the exhibition and commercialization of intimate photos, videos or audios, without their consent, whether real, created or modified through the use of artificial intelligence, or with applications and other technological programs.
Up to the installation of tracking devices on cars, personal objects, without consent; or the use of applications or the installation of spyware on electronic devices to gain unauthorized access and exercise control over a woman’s private life, among other things, through remote control of cameras, microphones or geolocation functions, among others.
The document pays particular attention to women who participate in public and political life, because violence against them results in silencing their voices in citizen debate. According to the study, “Online gender-based violence against women with a public voice. Impact on Freedom of Expression,” conducted by the United Nations in 2022, 80 percent of women with a public voice who have experienced digital violence have limited their participation in networks and avoided giving opinions or protesting on certain topics.
It is precisely the ministers and other politicians who are meeting today in Brazil who are called upon to adopt the law and apply it in their respective countries. This is how Maureira explains the following.
“As it is a framework law, the different states that have ratified the Bethlehem Convention can take up the law in its entirety or certain parts to harmonize it with current regulations on cybersecurity or digital violence against women and girls based on gender,” concludes the expert.
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