News about her: The effects of media freedom and internet access on women's rights
Date
2016-09-08
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Publisher
Routledge
Abstract
Human rights organizations have long heralded media freedom as
critical to holding government accountable and thereby improving a
wide range of human rights. Similarly the Internet and social media are
assumed to empower citizens by enabling them to document
repression and thereby discourage future abuse. So what does this
mean for women’s rights? I propose that, when it comes to women’s
rights, the combination of media freedom and Internet access will
make a difference and that the effect of media freedom will depend
on Internet access. I test my hypotheses across countries and over time
and find that the interaction of Internet access and media freedom has
positive effects on women’s rights regardless of regime type.
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Keywords
human rights, women's rights, media, media freedom, internet access
Citation
Journal of Human Rights (2016) 15:3, 383-407