Technology and innovation is redefining the future of gender equality in our rural communities.

The innovation and development of technology, particularly social media, has not only given younger generations in our rural communities a larger platform to advocate for gender equality in their communities, but has also allowed young women and non-binary individuals to rise in leadership paths that were previously unavailable.

Through the progression and ever-growing popularity of social media in all generations, it has become a platform for voices that may have remained unheard without the innovations in technology. This is especially rife in rural communities among smaller voices, as the reach they have online through social media is incomparable to the reach they had without. Younger voices are pivotal to the future of gender equality as they are the future leaders of our communities and the ones who are currently challenging patriarchal norms. Without younger generations being given the opportunity to express their concerns regarding gender equality in their communities, the push for bridging the gap between males, females, and other identities will come to a devastating halt, and the future will not progress.

Moreover, not only has social media elevated the voices of many young individuals preaching for gender equality, but it has also opened leadership opportunities once denied to young women and non-binary individuals. The innovation in technology has redefined the futures for many young women and non-binary individuals by giving them a sea of opportunities that in the past were unavailable and acted as a cruel reminder of the voice they were denied.

A prime example of a woman’s voice that was raised through social media is Aretha Brown. Without the platform she created for herself on social media, she would not have been able to grow the mass following she did, which allowed her to advocate for the progression of gender equality in our communities. Because of this platform she created, she was able to rise into leadership as the youngest and first woman to hold the position of Prime Minister of the National Indigenous Youth Parliament. She is only one of the many women who have used the development of technology to seize opportunities in leadership, and with the way that technology is progressing, there will be many more.

With this being said, the looming social media ban for individuals under 16, while protecting minors from the dangers online, threatens to stifle and silence these opportunities that young and upcoming women and nonbinary individuals in our rural areas hold in elevating the push to further gender equality in our communities.

Social media, while posing threats to young individuals’ mental health, is playing a key role in allowing young, unheard voices to express their concerns, promote their values, and seize leadership opportunities. The ban is threatening to extinguish these voices and will prevent those in remote areas from getting their concerns to a larger audience than what is available to them in these isolated and desolate areas. I urge our government to consider the voices they are muzzling with this ban.

Ultimately, technology and innovation have preponderantly elevated the future of gender equality in our agrarian communities through not only the access it has given to younger generations to project their ideas to a vaster audience, but also by giving them access to pathways for leadership that were previously unattainable.

Without her social media platform, would have Aretha Brown been able to gain a following and speak at the 2017 Invasion Day rally that catalysed her journey to becoming the first woman to be Prime Minister of the National Indigenous Parliament?