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Current analyzes show that disinformation against women always works according to similar mechanisms – internationally. Women are being deliberately pushed out of political discourse – with consequences for democracy and society.
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has already been the target of disinformation campaigns on several occasions – some with considerable success: last year, German media made misleading claims against the Green Party politician, which were allegedly made by Russian authors. The trick comes from the mothballs of disinformation, but is effective: an interview with the Foreign Minister was edited in such a way that the meaning was completely distorted.
Immediately after her nomination as candidate for chancellor, Baerbock was massively attacked – including with manipulated images.
This is not an isolated case, as a current analysis shows. Attacks that portray women in politics as promiscuous or with unconventional sexual pasts are a common and effective tactic to harm them. Lucina Di Meco, co-founder of the online campaign “#ShePersisted”, also says that Baerbock’s example also shows other phenomena that she wrote about in a new study entitled “Monetizing Misogyny”.
The #ShePersisted initiative campaigns against gender-based disinformation against women in politics. The analysis, published in February, concluded that gender-based disinformation not only leads to a regression in women’s rights and democracy overall, but also threatens national security when foreign actors use it to divide society.
Propaganda weapon against women
The study highlights specific case studies over a period of two years in five countries – Brazil, Italy, Hungary, Tunisia and India. More than 50 female executives were interviewed to examine how authoritarian and illiberal actors use social media as a propaganda weapon. These attacks are often worse for women who come from marginalized population groups – also because they are marked by their opponents as symbols of multicultural societies.
“Misogyny in the virtual online world is an increasingly rapid and particularly effective means of influencing the digital political sphere,” writes author Nitasha Kaul in the study. And since these online subcultures are particularly strong among supporters of right-wing and far-right political leaders, gender-based disinformation is becoming the central tool used by autocrats against female opposition leaders to undermine democracy.
Platforms have “overwhelmingly failed”
Di Meco’s analysis concludes that digital platforms have “overwhelmingly failed to protect women.” In addition, algorithms, automated profiles and trending topics promoted and reinforced harmful narratives against women. And such campaigns in turn serve the commercial interests of the social media platforms. Although many platform operators have started to fund research and initiatives on such topics in order to find solutions, Di Meco believes that so far these have mostly only been “cosmetic”.
And so the digital revolution has partly become a threat to democracy. The study says: “The digital media was initially seen as a welcome tool for emancipation and democracy, but it is increasingly becoming a tool of oppression and a weapon against women in politics, activists and journalists across the world world.”
Opposition should be suppressed
The experts also warn that women in the opposition should be deliberately silenced. State actors tried to suppress demands from opposition members for better governance. In Italy, several women interviewed for the study said that some political parties deliberately used social media to organize hate campaigns and online harassment against political opponents, especially women.
It is not just women who are the direct target of these attacks, but also what they stand for: equal rights for women, but also LGBTQI+ rights, liberal values and inclusive, diverse democracies.
Sexist reporting
The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), an intergovernmental organization with the aim of promoting democracy worldwide, also warns of the dangers of disinformation against women.
The IDEA also denounces often sexist reporting: Women in politics are treated in a biased, sexist and discriminatory way by the media: “When reporters report on women in politics, they often use terms that emphasize the traditional roles of women and themselves “Focus on their appearance. They perpetuate the stereotype of female politicians as weak, indecisive and emotional,” one said Summary of a discussion event in December 2022 on the topic.
Additionally, women in politics, especially black women, are “overwhelmingly subject to abuse and gender-based disinformation campaigns.” The aim is to discredit, delegitimize and silence women in politics. Studies have also shown that women are often discouraged and discouraged from getting involved in politics due to gender-specific media coverage and disinformation.
UNESCO warns against coordinated campaigns
UNESCO also strongly warns that women who work in professions that require a public online presence – such as politicians, artists, journalists or human rights and equality activists – are particularly vulnerable to coordinated campaigns of gender-specific online disinformation, harassment, hate speech or even death and rape threats were affected.
The UNESCO calls for various measuresin order to get the problem under control – this includes, in addition to education and law enforcement as well as more gender equality in the development of “artificial intelligence”, also more regulation, which must be coordinated internationally. #ShePersisted also comes to this conclusion: new, globally oriented legal frameworks and approaches to dealing with gender-specific disinformation are required.
Even where there are laws, it is extremely difficult to implement them on a large scale and combat abuse in a timely manner. Anonymous perpetrators are difficult to track down and the number of such cases exceeds the capacity of the police and courts. Therefore, transparency and “duty of care” for social media companies regarding the harm caused by their services are essential – in order to protect affected women and democracy.
Editor’s note: Patrick Gensing was senior editor of the ARD fact finder until 2022 and now works part-time as a freelance journalist.