The internet can be a dangerous place for girls and young women. Grooming and sextortion, spreading revenge porn, and other forms of online harassment are still far too common. A striking new one was added to this list of online dangers last week. Indeed, according to Plan International, girls and young women are hit extra hard by misinformation and disinformation.
The internet can be a dangerous place for girls and young women. Grooming and sextortion, spreading revenge porn, and other forms of online harassment are still far too common. A striking new one was added to this list of online dangers last week. Indeed, according to Plan International, girls and young women are hit extra hard by misinformation and disinformation.
The organisation, which advocates for children's rights worldwide, conducted research among 26,000 girls in 32 countries as part of World Girls' Day 2021. They concluded that girls and young women are eminently dependent on online information to learn about topics important to them. Therefore, they are more adversely affected by misinformation and disinformation. Atria signals that the problem goes even further than that. Misinformation and disinformation can foster gender-based violence, and therefore need to be tackled head-on.
Internet as a source of information
Plan International underlines in its report that the worldwide web contributes to the gender equality of girls and young women. Extensive information can be found online on topics that are not always easy to discuss outside. For example, the report quotes 22-year-old Lisa from Malawi:
"On the issue of sexuality. I didn't really have a chance to get to talk about it, or what happens when you're growing up, because in my country, adults, they don't really talk about those issues. So, the only place I will learn about everything is through the internet."
The only place she can learn about sexuality is the internet. Lisa is not alone in this. Girls and young women surveyed by Plan International say they use the internet to find information on issues such as gender equality and feminism, sex and sexual health, gender-based violence and lhbti+ rights.
Misinformation and disinformation
But what if you are not sure if the information you find online is accurate? Precisely because girls and young women are so dependent on online sources, mis- and disinformation hits them extra hard. Not for nothing do 18% of girls and young women in Plan International's survey say they no longer follow politics and current affairs because of mis- and disinformation. 13% even say they have stopped taking action on issues that are important to them. This applies, for example, to 17-year-old Cripaam from Spain. She tells Plan International she no longer posts on Instagram about politics or feminism.
Standards on how men and women should behave
Anyone reading further into the report must draw another worrying conclusion. Indeed, misinformation and disinformation mainly propagate traditional ideas about how men and women should behave - or traditional gender norms. The report is full of examples. For instance, in Ireland, around the time of the 2018 referendum on legalising abortion, false reports circulated about the relationship between abortion and Down syndrome, depression, and cancer. And Indian journalist Rana Ayyub - in addition to countless death threats - became the victim of a pornographic video. In this way, misinformation and disinformation perpetuate harmful norms about how men and women should behave.
Feeding ground for gender-based violence
And that is exactly where the shoe pinches. Because stereotypical gender norms are, among other things, a breeding ground for gender-based violence. This is partly due to Masculine Gender Role Stress (MGRS), the phenomenon in which some men feel they have to underline their masculinity through violence. Research shows that such violent behaviour is more common among men who hold stereotypical gender norms. Such norms can be about gender roles (e.g. men are tough and should be the breadwinner) and sexuality (e.g. women are responsible for setting boundaries). When their stereotypical role comes under pressure with these men, for example because their female partner starts working more, this can lead to aggression. By continuously affirming such stereotypes, online mis- and disinformation provide a breeding ground for MGRS and thus, potentially, gender-based violence.
Examples of misinformation and disinformation in the Netherlands
In the Netherlands, too, we unfortunately have examples of misinformation confirming harmful gender norms. For example, Forum for Democracy list leader Thierry Baudet claimed in an interview with Quote that "women generally excel less in a lot of professions and have less ambition, often also have more interest in just more family-like things". Earlier, Baudet became discredited by writing in his book Conditional Love that "the reality is that women want to be overwhelmed, dominated, yes: overwhelmed". Both claims lack any factual basis, but do show a strongly conservative, stereotypical image of women. The incessant stream of conservative fake news surrounding the person of BIJ1 list leader Sylvana Simons is in the same vein.
The continuous repetition of this kind of false information confirms harmful gender norms. It thus forms a breeding ground for gender-based violence and must be stopped. After all, it is high time that everyone can take advantage of the opportunities the internet offers. But how do we get that done?
Media literacy as a weapon against gender-based violence
In the alliance Act4Respect, Atria advocates for equal relationships among young adults, in which there is no place for gender-based violence. As online misinformation and disinformation affect the important role of the internet as a safe environment for girls and young women, and confirm traditional gender norms, it is important to combat its spread among young adults as much as possible.
Plan International calls on governments to implement media literacy programmes in school curricula that specifically address the needs of girls and young women. In addition, governments should recognise the implications of mis- and disinformation for girls and young women, and link to already existing programmes against online gender-based violence. Like Plan International, Atria is also doing its bit to counter online harassment and gender-based violence. Below is an overview of tools and trainings that can now directly help combat misinformation, disinformation, online harassment, and gender-based violence.
Want to know more about misinformation and gender-based violence?
Read these tips to learn more about how to recognise misinformation and disinformation yourself and stop further spread.
What are misinformation and disinformation?
Misinformation is false, misleading and often harmful information shared by people without conscious ulterior motives.
Disinformation is false, misleading and often harmful information shared deliberately to harm others and/or for profit. Both are regularly referred to as fake news. However, fake news mainly refers to misleading or completely fabricated information in the form of a regular news report. Misinformation and disinformation also come in other forms, such as blogs, (YouTube) videos, or social media posts.
