![]() She urged governments to close the gender digital divide, gender data gaps, and other barriers to women’s right to information, including on sexual and reproductive health and rights. There can be no trade-off between women’s right to be free from violence and the right to freedom of opinion and expression - UN expert “States must not use efforts to address online gender-based violence, hate speech and disinformation as a pretext to restrict freedom of expression beyond what is permitted under international law”. “There can be no trade-off between women’s right to be free from violence and the right to freedom of opinion and expression”, argued Ms. Noting that this undermines human rights, media diversity and inclusive democracy, she called on States and social media companies to – within the framework of international human rights law – urgently and decisively make digital spaces safe for all women and non-binary people. The Special Rapporteur said women journalists, politicians, human rights defenders and feminist activists were being targeted with vicious, coordinated online attacks and intimidation, aimed at driving them off social media platforms and out of public life. “Such action is paternalistic at best, misogynistic at worst”, underscored Ms. In some countries, young women and gender non-conforming people are being policed by fundamentalists and, under the guise of protecting ‘public morals’, censored and criminalized by Governments. ![]() “Sexism and misogyny, which are dominant factors in gendered censorship, have been heightened by the rise of populist, authoritarian and fundamentalist forces around the world”, she said. As States continue to fail to respect and protect women’s equal rights, gendered censorship has become so pervasive, that women’s equality concerning freedom of expression remains a distant goal, according to the UN expert.
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