An increase in anti-LGBTQ+ intolerance is impacting individuals and communities both online and offline across the globe.
Throughout 2023, several countries sought to pass explicitly anti-LGBTQ+ initiatives restricting freedom of expression and privacy.
This fuels offline intolerance against LGBTQ+ people, and forces them to self-censor their online expression to avoid being profiled, harassed, doxxed, or criminally prosecuted.
One growing threat to LGBTQ+ people is data surveillance.
Across the U.S., a growing number of states prohibited transgender youths from obtaining gender-affirming health care, and some restricted access for transgender adults.
The tools scan web pages and documents in students' cloud drives for keywords about topics like sex and drugs, which are subsequently blocked or flagged for review by school administrators.
Numerous reports show regular flagging of LGBTQ+ content.
Looking outside the U.S., LGBTQ+ rights were gravely threatened by expansive cybercrime and surveillance legislation in the Middle East and North Africa throughout 2023.
The Cybercrime Law of 2023 in Jordan, introduced as part of King Abdullah II's modernization reforms, will negatively impact LGBTQ+ people by restricting encryption and anonymity in digital communications, and criminalizing free speech through overly broad and vaguely defined terms.
During debates on the bill in the Jordanian Parliament, some MPs claimed that the new cybercrime law could be used to criminalize LGBTQ+ individuals and content online.
For many countries across Africa, and indeed the world, anti-LGBTQ+ discourses and laws can be traced back to colonial rule.
These laws have been used to imprison, harass, and intimidate LGBTQ+ individuals.
Such laws are not only an assault on the rights of LGBTQ+ people to exist, but also a grave threat to freedom of expression.
They lead to more censorship and surveillance of online LGBTQ+ speech, the latter of which will lead to more self-censorship, too.
EFF this year joined other human rights groups to oppose this law.
Kenya today is the sole country in East Africa to accept LGBTQ+ individuals seeking refuge and asylum without questioning their sexual orientation; sadly, that may change.
EFF has called on the authorities in Kenya and Ghana to reject their respective repulsive bills, and for authorities in Uganda to repeal the Anti-Homosexuality Act.
2023 was a challenging year for the digital rights of LGBTQ+ people.
We are optimistic that in the year to come, LGBTQ+ people and their allies, working together online and off, will make strides against censorship, surveillance, and discrimination.
Read other articles about the fight for digital rights in 2023.
This Cyber News was published on www.eff.org. Publication date: Mon, 01 Jan 2024 13:43:06 +0000