Digital systems are often framed as neutral, objective, and efficient. In practice, many digital technologies reproduce and amplify existing gender inequalities through the data they rely on, the assumptions embedded in their design, and the contexts in which they are deployed. Gender bias in digital systems is not accidental; it is structural, cumulative, and frequently invisible to those who hold power over technology design and governance.

This session explores how gender bias is embedded across the digital ecosystem, including data collection, algorithmic decision-making, platform governance, digital identification systems, online safety tools, health technologies, and digital public infrastructure. It examines how women in the Global South are rendered invisible or harmed by technologies that fail to account for gendered realities.

Using an intersectional feminist lens, the session highlights how race, class, geography, disability, age, and migration status deepen digital exclusion. Through concrete examples and interactive discussion, participants will unpack how supposedly “neutral” design choices produce unequal outcomes, who is excluded, and who benefits. The session centres feminist and rights-based approaches to reimagining digital design, governance, and accountability.