A Technology Exploration towards Trustable and Safe Use of Social Media for Vulnerable Women based on Islam and Arab Culture

Abstract

We live in an era characterized by unprecedented communication possibilities; yet significant parts of the world's population are left behind and at increased vulnerability of harm due to low digital literacy, poverty, war, surveillance, gender and cultural bias, etc. Social media platforms are not perceived as trustable and safe (e.g., privacy-preserving) enough by many users, especially by the most vulnerable ones. In this context, we aim at creating a bridge between vulnerable users and computer science to let researchers know where they should address their efforts to improve these tools. In particular, utilizing the results from ongoing fieldwork with conservative Sunni-Muslims, mostly Syrian war refugees, in Jordan, we identify some crucial features that messaging systems should include, discuss how they are indeed important for any user, and propose some possible technological approaches to implement them. Finally, we also discuss how we have added one these highly ranked features to a custom messaging system, proving its feasibility.