German Foreign Minister Analena Berbock has already been the target of disinformation campaigns on several occasions - sometimes with considerable success: at the beginning of the year, the German media made false accusations against the Green politician allegedly originating from Russian creators. The trick comes from a mothball of misinformation, but it's effective: the interview with the minister is edited so that the meaning is completely changed.
Immediately after her nomination as a candidate for chancellor, Berbokova was massively attacked, including with manipulated photos.
As the current analysis shows, this is not an isolated case. Attacks that portray women in politics as promiscuous or with an unconventional sexual past are a common and effective tactic to harm them. Lucina Di Mecco, co-founder of the online campaign #ShePersisted, also says that the example of Analene Burbok reflects other phenomena she wrote about in a new study called "The Monetization of Misogyny."
The #ShePersisted initiative (loosely translated - "she persists") leads a campaign against gender-specific misinformation, i.e. against women in politics. An analysis published in February concluded that gender misinformation not only contributes to the backsliding of women's rights and democracy as a whole, but also threatens national security when foreign actors use it to divide society.
A propaganda weapon against women
The study highlights specific cases over a period of two years in five countries – Brazil, Italy, Hungary, Tunisia and India. More than 50 women in leadership positions 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 their opponents label them as symbols of multicultural societies.
"Misogyny in the virtual world is an increasingly fast and effective means of influencing the digital political sphere," author Nitaša Kaul writes in the study. And since these online subcultures are particularly strong among supporters of right-wing and far-right political leaders, gender disinformation becomes a key tool used by autocrats against female opposition leaders to undermine democracy.
Platforms "failed massively"
Di Mek's analysis concludes that digital platforms have "largely failed to protect women". In addition, algorithms, automated profiles and trending topics have fueled and amplified harmful narratives against women, and such campaigns, in turn, serve the commercial interests of social media platforms. But while many platform operators have started funding research and initiatives on such issues to find solutions, Di Mecco believes most of them have so far been "pure cosmetics".
Thus, the digital revolution has partly become a threat to democracy. The study states: "Digital media, initially seen as a welcome tool for emancipation and democracy, is increasingly becoming a tool of oppression and is being used as a weapon against women in politics, activists and journalists around the world."
The opposition should be silenced
Experts also warn that women in the opposition are deliberately silenced. The authorities are trying to suppress the opposition's demands for better governance. Several women interviewed for the study in Italy said that some political parties deliberately used social media to organize hate campaigns and online harassment of political opponents, especially women.
But not only women are the direct targets of these attacks, but also what they stand for: equal rights for women, but also rights for LGBTQI+ people, liberal values and inclusive, diverse democracies.
UNESCO warns against coordinated campaigns
UNESCO also strongly warns that women working in professions that require a public presence on the Internet – such as politicians, artists, journalists or human rights and equality activists – are particularly vulnerable to coordinated campaigns of online misinformation, harassment, hate speech or even death, but and threats of rape.
UNESCO is calling for various measures to bring the problem under control - in addition to education and prosecution, and more gender equality in the development of "artificial intelligence", this includes more regulations that would have to be coordinated at the international level. The #ShePersisted action also comes to the following conclusion: new, globally oriented legal frameworks and approaches are needed to address gender-specific misinformation.
Even where laws exist, it is extremely difficult to enforce them on a large scale and to curb abuses in a timely manner. Anonymous perpetrators are difficult to trace, and the number of such cases exceeds the capacities of the police and judiciary. Therefore, transparency and “due diligence” for social media companies regarding the harm caused by their services is essential – to protect the women affected, but also to protect democracy.
Bonus video:
