Violência de gênero online: tecno-silenciamentos e resistências nas redes sociais no Brasil (2010-2022)

Abstract

This dissertation aims to analyze the phenomenon of online gender-based violence (OGBV) and its implications for the participation of women journalists, activists, and politicians in digital discussion spaces, located on social networks in Brazil, focusing on the expansion of these spaces for political debate from 2010 onwards. To this end, the study employs a multi-method approach. On one hand, eight semi-structured and in-depth interviews were conducted with women selected through case studies. On the other, the official discourses of the main social network companies in Brazil, i.e., Google, Meta, and Twitter, from 2016 to 2021, were analyzed from a database containing 410 of their official news in English and 102 official news in Brazilian Portuguese. The interview results reveal that women who have experienced online violence identify gender as a critical element in generating a specific type of online violence that has significant impacts on their public participation on the social media networks. Black and brown women have the same perception, with the aggravating factor of racialization. These women tend to internalize the costs of this violence, often resorting to their own silencing as a defense mechanism to mitigate or avoid attacks. Another important finding is the ambiguity of the platforms’ policies regarding the definition and treatment of hate speech and OGBV, a complicating factor for reporting and seeking redress by the victims. Furthermore, the analysis of official discourses suggests that social media networks are actors in this phenomenon, with specific values guiding the ineffective application of their rules for moderating harmful content and the functioning of their recommendation algorithms. This work conceptualizes as techno-silencing such private regulatory practices that restrict expression. Therefore, this dissertation aspires to contribute to the specialized literature by elucidating how such power structures embedded in social media networks shape experiences of gender-based violence and silencing, highlighting the need for a deeper understanding of this dispositive in the fields of digital sociology and gender studies.