2. A Comprehensive Mechanism to Strengthen the Capacities of Governmental,
Security, and Judicial Institutions
- Training security and judicial personnel to effectively handle cybercrimes, including the collection and analysis of digital
evidence, as well as a program for dealing with whistleblowers of violence and ensuring their protection.
- Enhancing regional and local cooperation to combat cross-border digital violence, and exchange specialized data based on the
principles of transparency and the protection of personal data.
- Supporting non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in field of combating digital violence, and enhance their role in
raising awareness, and providing support to victims.
- Building partnerships with civil society organizations and international institutions to exchange expertise and knowledge, in the
field of gender and cybercrime.
3. Protecting Vulnerable/Marginalized Groups
- Providing special protection for children by enforcing laws that criminalize the sexual exploitation of children online, and providing awareness programs for children and parents.
- Protecting women from cyber violence, such as harassment and sextortion, by providing them with legal and psychological
support.
- Providing specialized support services for people with disabilities, who may be more susceptible to becoming victims of digital
violence.
4. Legislative Amendments
- Modernizing Lebanese laws and activating their application according to technological developments to include digital
violence and harmonize them with new developments.
5. Awareness and Community Consciousness
- The role of educational institutions through media and information literacy (MIL) programs.
- The role of media outlets by applying professional and ethical codes of conduct during coverage, away from leaks and
without sharing names or information during investigations; as well as working on specialized content that encourages
critical and lateral thinking without arousing feelings of fear or anger, i.e. content that helps avoid the risks of violence
and provides pathways and mechanisms in case it occurs.
- Strengthening partnerships with civil society organizations to reach and support vulnerable groups effectively.
6. Economic Dimension
- Allocating a clear, transparent, and binding budget for the implementation of any of the proposals.
- Working with major platforms to allocate support from their advertising revenues across their pages to fund projects as
part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) fund.
7. Corporate Responsibility and Data Algorithms
Not long ago, social media users considered online platforms as empowering tools, spaces where citizens could express
themselves freely, share ideas, and engage in unrestricted communication. However, over time, growing concerns have
emerged regarding the role these platforms play, particularly in light of the vast amounts of personal data they collect and
the algorithms they use. It is worth mentioning that these algorithms are sequential set of rules and calculations, social
media platforms use to prioritize the content that users see on their pages. These rules are based on user behavior, content
relevance, and post popularity within the local context of the content, and they differ from one platform to another. As such,
these algorithms have a significant impact through the study of platform users' interaction with private data.
Therefore, today more than ever, major social media technology platforms must subject their algorithms to strict regulatory
oversight to ensure that the rights of users and users globally are protected from any digital violence or incitement to hatred
arising from social media algorithms that can become harmful based on the data collected by major tech companies. This
model may generate financial profits for the companies, but the long-term consequences for human rights can be dire.
Hence the call for transparency of the algorithms used to find, process, and present information and their underlying structure and procedures.
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