Standing with the women and girls of iran: joint statement through the global partnership for action on gender-based online harassment and abuse

Press release STANDING WITH THE WOMEN AND GIRLS OF IRAN: JOINT STATEMENT THROUGH THE GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR ACTION ON GENDER-BASED ONLINE HARASSMENT AND ABUSE The text of this statement was

released by the governments of USA, Australia, Canada, Chile, Iceland, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Sweden, and the UK. This was published under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative

government Joint statement from the governments of the United States of America, Australia, Canada, Chile, Iceland, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Sweden, and the United Kingdom: > The 

undersigned foreign ministers for country members of the Global > Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse > call attention to the extreme violence faced by 

the courageous > Iranian women and girls who are leading sustained nationwide > protests over the tragic death of 22-year-old Mahsa (Zhina) Amini. > Since then, Iranian authorities 

have continued and even escalated > their brutal suppression of protestors, including through their use > of technology-facilitated gender-based violence. Women and girls > have 

faced targeted online harassment and abuse by Iranian > authorities, their apparatuses, and institutions as they demand > respect for their human rights and fundamental freedoms. We 

condemn > this ongoing violent crackdown on protestors, including on digital > platforms and through Internet restrictions. >  > The people of Iran rely on social media and other

 digital tools to > communicate and broadcast their messages to the world—always, and > particularly during the ongoing violence perpetrated by Iranian > authorities. The women and 

girls of Iran bravely use these essential > tools, even as Iranian authorities and their supporters misuse and > abuse the same technologies against them, propagating coordinated > 

online harassment, abuse, and disinformation campaigns designed to > discredit them and silence their protests. This use of violence > against women and girls in public life, which 

manifests both online > and offline and is exacerbated by the scale, speed, and reach of > technology platforms, is a deliberate tactic leveraged by illiberal > actors around the 

world seeking to halt democratic movements and > shore up their own political power. Technology-facilitated > gender-based violence threatens the lives, safety, and livelihoods > of

 survivors and their families, especially as online and offline > violence are often mutually reinforcing. >  > We invite the international community to join us in urgently working

> with technology companies to do everything in their power to enable > women and girls’ access to information online, particularly their > full and effective use of online 

platforms. This includes > implementing practical and proactive measures to combat the abuse of > their platforms to threaten, harass, and silence Iranian women and > girls by 

surging resources for Persian (Farsi) language content > moderation and other Iranian languages, applying policies on > harassment and abusive content in a timely and consistent 

manner, > and providing resources and transparent reporting options for those > experiencing online harassment and abuse. >  > The members of the Global Partnership for Action on

 Gender-Based > Online Harassment and Abuse stand in solidarity with Iranian women > and girls and will continue to look for ways to support women > globally in exercising their 

rights freely and safely, online and > offline. Co-signatories: * Australia Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong * Canada Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable

Mélanie Joly, PC, MP * Iceland Minister for Foreign Affairs, Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir * New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Nanaia Mahuta * Republic of Chile Minister

of Foreign Affairs, Ms Antonia Urrejola Noguera * Republic of Korea Minister of Foreign Affairs, Park Jin * Sweden Minister for Foreign Affairs, Tobias Billström * United Kingdom Secretary

of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, James Cleverly * United States Secretary of State, Antony J Blinken SHARE THIS PAGE The following links open in a new tab * Share

on Facebook (opens in new tab) * Share on Twitter (opens in new tab) UPDATES TO THIS PAGE Published 8 December 2022