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ICANN to “strengthen” harassment rules as it picks another homophobic meeting host
ICANN has revealed it is to “strengthen” its anti-harassment policy, but the announcement came the same day as it picked another public meeting host country where being gay can lead to jail time.
“The Board Anti-Harassment Working Group has recently worked to evaluate and strengthen the ICANN Community Anti-Harassment Policy,” chair Tripti Sinha posted over the weekend. “We do not accept any form of harassment, and we must continually seek opportunities to improve.”
The draft revisions shortly follow the revelations of a sexual harassment legal action by a veteran former staffer, at least the third such instance in the last five years I’m aware of.
The current Community Anti-Harassment Policy is already pretty broad, covering a wide range of protected characteristics (from race to marital status) and behaviors (from groping to dirty jokes).
The proposed revisions will be posted for public comment before ICANN’s Annual General Meeting in Istanbul this November, Sinha wrote.
It’s not illegal to be gay in Türkiye, but it is in Muscat, Oman, where ICANN announced just hours before the anti-harassment post it plans to hold its 2025 AGM.
Men and women can get three years imprisonment for gay sex or “cross-dressing” there, according to the Human Dignity Trust. It’s also technically illegal for unmarried straight couples to share a hotel room, according to the UK government.
While the law in Oman might not be rabidly enforced, it’s understandable that some LGBT members of the ICANN community could be made to feel nervous and adjust their travel plans accordingly — things like traveling with a same-sex partner, hooking up with someone, or having Grindr on your phone might carry additional risk.
Oman is just one of many countries with homophobic laws on the books that ICANN has invited its community members to attend over the years.
Looking back over just the last 10 years of meetings, ICANN has been to Malaysia (in 2022), the UAE, and Morocco (twice), where gay sex acts get you prison time. It’s also been to Singapore (twice) and India, which have since decriminalized homosexuality.
It’s baffling to me that ICANN can lecture its community about “microagressions” and yet also routinely invites its not-insignificant contingent of gay community members to return to the closet for a week, under pain of arrest.
I am much more worried about their stance on freedom from religion:
“It is a criminal offense to “offend” any Abrahamic religion. Article 269 of the Penal Code states that disrespecting the divine verbally, in writing, by drawing, by gesturing or by using any other means, as well as offending the religion of Islam or insulting other Abrahamic religions is punishable by imprisonment of no less than 3 years and not exceeding 10 years.”
So publicly stating my belief that there is no god could land me in prison in that country…
Also another place women probably won’t feel welcome
ICANN meetings should not be organized in such countries. Period. How difficult is it to choose friendly, tolerant and peaceful countries?
“How difficult is it to choose friendly, tolerant and peaceful countries?”
It is apparently becoming more difficult all of the time. Check back on the US next year.