The internet opens up a wide range of opportunities for women to communicate, learn and earn an income. However, cyberspace is also a mirror of social inequalities. It’s where women encounter old and new forms of discrimination and even violent conduct. Three experts from Latin America provide their insight into the complex reality of women in the digital domain – and show how equality can be achieved in cyberspace.

Marisa Leonor Salinas is a lawyer in the Argentinian province of Mendoza. She specialises in the law in cyberspace and has experienced how the rights of women are often infringed on the internet by hidden algorithms and systems based on artificial intelligence. ‘Algorithms frequently learn from historical data. If these data are based on social inequalities, there is a risk that the algorithm simply adopts or even intensifies these patterns.’

Hidden discrimination

As an example Salinas provides the attempt by Amazon to introduce an AI-based application procedure. The system was trained using CVs that applicants had submitted to the company over a ten year period. More men had been employed in the past, so the system prioritised male applicants and downgraded female applicants. ‘The project was ultimately scrapped due to its gender bias’, Salinas explains.

The lawyer also mentions cases in which banks were known to have given women a significantly lower credit facility than men, without there being an objective justification. She is calling for comprehensive regulation of artificial intelligence and for obligatory checking of algorithms to prevent such discrimination.

Violent conduct against women on the internet

In addition to hidden bias, women in cyberspace experience open discrimination and even violent conduct. ‘Women on the internet are disproportionately threatened and confronted with snide comments. The dissemination of private content without consent is also part of many female users everyday experience’, says Lucía Viscuso. She is an Argentinian political scientist who addresses the internet’s ethical issues and safety aspects. The psychological pressure caused by such negative experience could result in women’s self-censorship or their withdrawal from online platforms. The consequence: women are silenced and there’s a restriction to the collective exchange of ideas within public discourse.

Intensification of gender stereotypes by social media

Viscuso also finds it problematic that the algorithms used by social networks proliferate content that fuels traditional gender stereotypes. Young girls are particularly affected: ‘The advertising of beauty products and cosmetic procedures can for instance disseminate unrealistic ideals of beauty that impair the self-esteem and mental health of young women.’

However, cyberspace does also offer . In Viscuso's view, social media can have a transformative power for greater : ‘Feminist movements like #metoo have used social media to push back against systemic suppression and to sharpen awareness of it’, she explains.

Opportunities through digital business models

Digitisation has also provided women with new . They can develop innovative digital business models and tap into global markets. An online business doesn’t require much start-up capital and can easily be combined with family duties given that the working hours and places of work are flexible.

Diana Miranda, start-up entrepreneur and professor at the Universidad de Guayaquil in Ecuador, warns about some risks: phishing attacks, extortion attempts via ransomware and targeted harassment can jeopardise digital companies. ‘Internet companies run by women are particularly affected, since they often have insufficient reserves to recover from a cyber-attack’, explains Diana Miranda.

Cybersecurity for women entrepreneurs online

Miranda advises women who run online businesses to attribute high priority to cybersecurity. They should only ever use strong passwords, consistently apply two-factor authentication, use secure payment platforms and regularly update their systems. A conscientious approach to sensitive information and participation in cybersecurity training should be the norm. ‘Proactive steps help to minimise weaknesses and protect both personal and corporate data against cyber threats.’

En route to a more equitable digital domain

The experience of the three experts makes it clear: digital equality is a significant social topic. Nations, companies and internet users bear responsibility for ensuring that technology doesn't simply reproduce old discriminatory habits but rather enables new freedoms – whether in the development of algorithms, in communication on social media or in terms of cybersecurity.