The repeated instances of violence and threats from state institutions and fundamentalist or conservative groups against LGBTiQ+ activist groups in Paraguay have extended into the digital sphere through organized online attacks, harassment, creation of fake profiles, extortion, theft and manipulation of information, and many other dynamics that violate their rights to appear and express themselves freely and safely in digital spaces.
In response to this situation, TEDIC identified the urgent need to strengthen care and digital security practices within the community. With this goal in mind, we launched the website Libres y Segures en Internet, a repository with information on digital security, courses, and general information about the current state of TLGBIQ+ rights and the history of their achievements in Paraguay and worldwide. The content developed for this website was validated by Aireana, Group for Lesbian Rights, and Diversxs Paraguay, organizations with extensive experience in the struggle for TLGBIQ+ rights in Paraguay.
The construction of this online space was not carried out in isolation. Throughout 2021, we worked with the Diversxs Paraguay community to conduct assessments of digital security needs, leveraging the wide reach of this network across 5 departments in the country. From these meetings, we developed the course “Digital Protection for TLGBIQ+ Activists,” available on our website. This self-paced course, hosted on a Moodle platform, gives participants the opportunity to identify their own digital security needs and learn about the main care strategies recommended by TEDIC, based on five key areas: Secure Passwords, Secure Communication, Safe Browsing, Digital Hygiene, and Social Media Settings.
Seeking also to contribute to the generation of content with a TLGBIQ+ perspective, we developed in collaboration with the organization Cuarto Mundo the podcast series Libres y Segures en Internet, a collection of 10 episodes featuring interviews with activists, artists, influencers, lawyers, journalists, technologists, and academics from Paraguay and the region, members of the TLGBIQ+ community and/or professionals working on gender and sexuality issues from their respective fields.
