Cyberviolence Against Women: Shifting Toward Direct Human Rights Obligations of Internet Intermediaries

The incidence of cyberviolence against women has emerged as a growing global issue, representing a novel form of violence against women. The urgency to combat such violence is amplified by internet intermediaries becoming facilitators of such harmful acts. Consequently, there is a call for redefining norms to ensure that internet intermediaries fulfil their human rights obligations by taking proactive measures to safeguard against and deter the propagation of cyberviolence against women on their platforms. The article provides a remark on the concept of cyberviolence against women, the role of digital platforms in intensifying such violence, and the debate about the human rights obligations of internet intermediaries to tackle all forms of violence occurring on their platforms. Although there are still many questions and challenges regarding procedural and definitional, legitimacy, and abuse concerns, a shift of research focus on the role and duties of Internet intermediaries as subjects of international human rights law is essential to safeguard human rights online in today’s data-driven society.