Masculinist discourses, an ideology that promotes male domination, proliferate on the Internet. It is a phenomenon facilitated by large digital companies and against which the European Union must legislate, estimates a report published this Monday by an association and a think tank.
Masculinism is “deeply anchored in digital spaces”, which have become “unwelcoming and unsafe” for many users, such as women and LGBT+ people, warn the feminist association Equipop and the Institute of Gender in Geopolitics in this report. “This is a warning message, we wish [rendre visible] an issue that is still little taken into account by public authorities,” explains Lucie Daniel, advocacy manager for Equipop.
Cyberviolence against women
Mainstream social networks (Facebook and YouTube, for example), more specialized ones (Reddit and Twitch) or even forums allow masculinist movements to disseminate their messages and reach a large audience. Dissemination of photos without the person’s consent, digital raids, online spying… Masculinists also use different means to intimidate their victims, who sometimes decide to withdraw from digital platforms.
These attacks “contribute to silencing feminist activists and female politicians,” points out Lucie Daniel. For large digital companies, the fight against cyberviolence against women is not a priority, deplores the report. In addition, their economic model “responds to mechanisms that promote the virality of hateful content”.
“Establish a strict and harmonized framework”
In this context, the provisions of the European Union “are far from sufficient” to regulate the digital space and fight against this violence. It must “establish a strict and harmonized framework”, estimates the report.
He therefore suggests that the EU and its member states strengthen the integration of the fight against gender-based and sexual violence into public digital policies and that they regulate digital multinationals. It also recalls the need to strengthen and complete the legal, political and financial arsenal in the fight against this violence, in general.