Internet intermediaries and online gender-based violence

In a research landscape that is increasingly concerned with understanding the implications of communication technologies for our societies, a thorough comprehension of the nexus between information and communication technologies and gender-based violence remains far from achieved. The review of company policies performed by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) clearly shows that 'the standards across the terms of service (ToS) of many internet intermediaries are primarily reflections of their legal obligations, and not much more than that'. Intermediaries are not neutral actors because, through their ToS, they determine the benchmarks against which the acceptability of digital behaviours and content - hence, the existence of digital harms - can be assessed. International organisations do in fact recognise that intermediaries bear some responsibility for the protection of human rights. However, a much stronger call to intermediaries to act responsively has come from the heterogeneous realm of civil society.