‘Gender trolling’ is curbing women’s rights – and making money for digital platforms
Listening to the resignation speech of Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon this week, it was impossible not to think of the all-too similar words from former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern just a few weeks earlier.
Politicians are humans, too, as Sturgeon and Ardern reminded us, but the abuse women face online – greater and more vicious than that faced by male politicians – seem to dehumanise them, leaving some to wonder if the problem is a reflection of millennia-old misogyny, or an issue with technology.
Monetizing Misogyny, the study released this week by #ShePersisted, is the result of more than two years of research into the patterns and motives of gendered disinformation in several countries. It provides new insights into this question as well as a clear answer: the problem lies less in the misogyny per se than in its weaponisation by dark actors – and monetisation by digital platforms.
Jacinda Ardern during her final public appearance as New Zealand’s prime minister, 24 January 2023.
We interviewed dozens of female leaders and experts in Hungary, India, Brazil, Italy and Tunisia, analysing a large volume of horrifying social media posts against them, and we documented how gendered disinformation campaigns – followed by avalanches of hate, threats and abuse – have been deployed strategically by illiberal forces and authoritarian leaders to silence opposition and stifle calls for better governance.
As noted by Karla Mantilla, the online “gender trolling” of women, particularly political opponents and journalists, is becoming an increasingly common feature of rightwing movements, and must therefore be understood as a deliberate strategy to silence them and “keep them in their place”.
These attacks aim to weaken not only the credibility of women who are attacked but also what they stand for
These attacks aim to weaken not only the credibility of the women who are attacked, but also what they stand for: women’s equal rights, particularly sexual and reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, liberal values and inclusive, diverse democracies.
Let me give you some examples. When Manuela d’Ávila ran for president against Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil in 2018, a photograph of her five-year-old daughter was shared on social media alongside a rape threat. Progressive, young and vocal about gender equality, d’Ávila had been a target of gendered disinformation, with multiple false stories about her posted online.
One such story claimed she went on a shopping trip to Miami to buy luxury goods while most Brazilians were suffering from deep financial distress – she never made that trip – and a Photoshopped image showed her wearing a T-shirt stating “Jesus is transgender” over a rainbow. In fact, her T-shirt read: “Rebel!”.
In May 2022, d’Ávila announced she would not run in last year’s general elections for several reasons, including the frequent attacks she and her family had suffered over the years.
Manuela d’Ávila during her presidential run against Jair Bolsonaro in 2018.
In 2018, Priyanka Chaturvedi, a member of the Indian parliament, filed a complaint to the Mumbai police after receiving an online rape threat aimed at her 10-year-old daughter. Talking to me about her experience, Chaturvedi said: “Usually, it is the ‘IT cells’ – mostly unofficial but fully supported by the ruling party, that target women – especially women of the opposition. These attacks are frequent in nature and well-orchestrated, and it is not unfamiliar for politicians, even cabinet ministers, to also engage or … initiate such kinds of attack.”
She said: “However, I refuse to just be a cog in the system and bow down to these cowards. I continue to persist despite the hate sent across my way, every day.”
But many others do not persist. Young women all over the world are being discouraged from speaking out or from considering a political career because of online misogyny and gendered disinformation.
These are just two of many examples of how gendered disinformation and tech-facilitated gender-based violence have become more central tools weaponised by autocratic and illiberal political leaders to silence opposition, reverse women’s and minority rights, and undermine democracy.
The design of the major digital platforms is largely responsible for the hellscape currently experienced by women online. Harmful narratives are boosted and amplified through algorithms that make such content sticky and often viral, through recommender systems built to maximise attention, and features that facilitate its rapid and widespread distribution.
Hateful, sexist and outrageous content generates engagement – and profits for platforms.
In country after country, we documented how platforms have failed to tackle hate and disinformation against women political leaders, often turning a blind eye to requests from local civil society, while pledging to make small changes that are largely cosmetic.
As the Indian journalist Swati Chaturvedi told me: “Hate is their business model – they are weaponising and monetising hate, at the expense of social cohesion and democracy.”
To address this, we need comprehensive approaches and legal frameworks that focus on transparency and “duty of care” for social media companies, with respect to the harm that is caused by their products. The Digital Services Act (DSA), approved by the EU last year, is a step in the right direction, establishing obligations for platforms like Google and Meta (Facebook) for mitigating the risks their services create for society.
More democratic countries should go in that direction. Not doing so would mean not only allowing gendered disinformation and online abuse to run rampant, but could also lead to the destruction of the democratic institutions and human rights principles we hold dearest.