No speech policies for us without us: Speech policies frequently inhibit the very voices they’re meant to protect.
Whether by governments or corporations, all too often moves to restrict freedom of expression are made without consulting marginalized communities.
From Facebook’s restrictions on depictions of the female body to the EU’s proposed terrorism regulation to the United States’ vague and censorious attempt to limit human trafficking through FOSTA, such policies frequently inhibit the very voices they’re supposedly meant to protect.
In order to ensure just and equitable policies, marginalized communities must be given a seat at the table, rather than be paid mere lip service by the powerful rulemakers who rarely have their interests at heart.
This article was first published (12th November 2019) online via hiig.de and is part of the publication "Critical Voices, Visions and Vectors for Internet Governance".
