First results of internet research with a feminist approach

We are pleased to announce the launch of the website for the Feminist Internet Research Network (FIRN). After the first two years of the project starting, we are glad to officially share the first research results on this new site.

The FIRN focuses on the making of a feminist internet, seeing this as critical to bringing about transformation in gendered structures of power that exist online and offline. The network’s broader objective is to ensure that the needs of women, gender-diverse and queer people are taken into account in internet policy discussions and decision making. The FIRN is a collaborative and multidisciplinary research project led by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

The website's goal is to gather in one place the results of FIRN research projects. In this launch we present the research executive summaries and full reports of four projects:

• After the storm: How to restore policy dialogue and supportive discourse against GBV online in Bulgaria (by BlueLink)

• Alternate realities, alternate internets: African feminist research for a feminist internet (by Pollicy)

• Power X Expression X Violence: Women’s freedom of expression on social media in Malaysia (by KRYSS Network)

• Platforms, Power, and Politics: Perspectives from Domestic and Care Work in India (by Centre for Internet and Society)

In the next weeks, additional content will be coming out from the second round of FIRN projects, which includes four more projects. We will also share the findings from the meta research project that delved into questions around methods and ethics, plus the updated mapping of feminist internet research, and other additional content including articles, infographics and visualisations.

We hope you find the new FIRN website both useful and inspiring, especially if you are looking for data-driven research that provides substantial evidence to drive change in internet policy and law, and a feminist approach around internet rights.