action, including in relation to any legal claims or violations of the law regarding the Internet. Protection of this right requires entitlement to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent, competent and impartial tribunal established by law. The court concerned should ensure that adequate relief is possible when dealing with a matter. Processes and mechanisms that enable the full, active and equal participation of women and girls in decision making about how the Internet is shaped and governed should be developed and strengthened. Jurisdiction in legal cases relating to Internet content should be restricted to States to which those cases have a real and substantial connection, normally because the author is established there, the content is uploaded there and/or the content is specifically directed at that State. Private parties should only be able to bring a case in a given jurisdiction where they can establish that they have suffered substantial harm in that jurisdiction. Conscious that the online environment reflects the inequality that women and girls face in wider society, the core principles underpinning the Internet – decentralisation, creativity, community and empowerment of users – should be used to achieve gender equality online. Wide-ranging efforts, including comprehensive legislation on rights to equality before the law and to non-discrimination, education, social dialogue and awareness-raising, should be the primary means to address the underlying problems of gender inequality and discrimination. For content that was uploaded in substantially the same form and at the same place, limitation periods for bringing legal cases should start to run from the first time the content was uploaded and only one action for damages should be allowed to be brought in respect of that content, where appropriate by allowing for damages suffered in all jurisdictions to be recovered at one time (the ‘single publication’ rule). Women and girls should be empowered to act against gender inequality replicated on the Internet, including by using tools enabling collective monitoring of various forms of inequality, individualised tools that allow them to track and limit the availability of personal information about them online (including public sources of data), and improved usability for anonymity and pseudonymity-protecting tools. • Democratic multistakeholder internet governance Additionally, all restrictions aimed at prohibiting gender-based hatred that constitutes an incitement to violence, discrimination or hostility (‘incitement’) should fully comply with the following conditions: • Grounds for prohibiting advocacy that constitutes incitement should include gender; • The intent to incite others to commit acts of discrimination, hostility or violence should be considered a crucial and distinguishing element of incitement; • Legislation prohibiting incitement should include specific and clear reference to incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence with references to Article 20(2) of the ICCPR and should avoid broader or less specific language and should conform to the three-part test of legality, proportionality and necessity; • Criminal law penalties should be limited to the most severe forms of incitement and used only as a last resort in strictly justifiable situations, when no other means appears capable of achieving the desired protection. It is important that multistakeholder decisions and policy formulations are improved at the national level in order to ensure the full participation of all interested parties. Independent, well-resourced, multistakeholder bodies should be established to guide Internet policy at the national level. National Internet governance mechanisms should serve as a link between local concerns and regional and global governance mechanisms, including on the evolution of the Internet governance regime. • Gender equality Aside from addressing the gender digital divide (mentioned under Principle 2 and 13 of this Declaration), the creation and promotion of online content that reflects women’s voices and needs, and promotes and supports women’s rights, should be encouraged.