New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) Issues such as online trolling, abuse and surveillance of women in public life occupied centre stage at an Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) interactive discussion on Saturday in the national capital.
The panel discussed the effectiveness of IT policies and legal safeguards against such attacks.
The discussion, titled ‘Online trolling faced by women in public spheres: How effective are IT policy and legal safeguards?’, brought together digital rights experts and student activists who spoke about the abuse they face for participating in protests and speaking on public issues.
Panelists said women protesters were subjected to trolling, doxxing, rape and death threats, as well as sexually manipulated and AI-generated images aimed at discrediting them specially after recent Jantar Mantar protests in July.
Doxxing refers to publishing private or identifying information about a person online without their permission and is often used as a harassment and scare tactic by letting a large number of people get access to the person — virtually or physically.
Activists also raised concerns over surveillance during protests, saying women were photographed by police, including at night, while facial recognition technology was also used during the protests. They said some women who wanted to join protests stayed away because they feared being identified.
Lawyer and Internet Freedom Foundation founder Apar Gupta said online threats and doxxing of women would continue, particularly when they speak against those in power, unless laws were backed by effective enforcement.
Student activist Sakhi said the abuse often extended to their families, with online attacks forcing some women to face pressure to withdraw from public activities.
“The objective was not only to silence the woman being targeted but also to frighten others from speaking out,” the activist said.
The speakers also questioned social media platforms’ handling of complaints, saying abusive content was sometimes allowed to remain online while posts by victims documenting harassment were removed for violating community guidelines.
They called for stronger enforcement of existing safeguards and more responsive mechanisms to protect women and gender minorities from online abuse. PTI VBH PRK
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