Understanding the Gender Dimensions of Disinformation

Report striving to build awareness of the direct and indirect impacts of gendered and sexualized disinformation on women in public life, as well as its corresponding impacts on national security and democratic participation. The research defines, quantifies, and evaluates the use of online gendered and sexualized disinformation campaigns against women in politics and beyond.

A report analyzing online spaces being weaponized to exclude women leaders and undermine the role of women in public life. It investigates gendered disinformation on Poland and the Philippines through Twitter data analyses. Additionally, it analyzes themes and topics of gendered disinformation online and actors that typically disseminate it.

A guide written by targets of cyber-attacks that is designed for women, people of color, trans and genderqueer people, and everyone else whose existing oppressions are made worse by digital violence. It details the best security practices for social media, email, online gaming, website platforms, ensuring the privacy of personal information online, as well as the documentation and reporting of harassment, and caring for yourself emotionally

A report analyzing how gendered, online harassment of female journalists translates in the physical world. It uses qualitative experience to record experiences from female journalists in Pakistan and highlight the impacts of gendered harassment on women's careers and democracy. The report ends with recommendations to the state, media houses, civil society, and press clubs of Pakistan.

Name It. Change It releases research projects and studies demonstrating gender-based challenges women face from the media when they run for office. In the past, they have published studies revealing where voters saw the most media sexism during the 2016 elections and conducted surveys on media coverage of women candidates’ appearance. The results of these reports continue to raise awareness about this growing issue and support their guides on best practices for gender-neutral coverage of women candidates. 

A training workshop curriculum on how to set up an online support network, create textual and visual counterspeech content, and deploy a counterspeech campaign. The “Hacking Hate Speech” session focuses on countering online hate speech, including learning how to conduct simple threat modelling, identify attackers, and develop strategies to mitigate hate speech.  

A training guide for journalists and writers on how to respond to online harassment and abuse, including building a community of supporters and developing counterspeech messages. The manual was written with and for the group disproportionately impacted by online abuses including writers, journalists, artists, and activists who identify as women, BIPOC, and/or LGBTQIA+. It provides guidance for individuals being targeted, witnesses or allies, and employers supporting staff experiencing online harassment. 

HeartMob is a community dedicated to helping those experiencing online harassment. This platform is an at-the-ready network of supporters available to respond to users’ reports of online harassment and provide positive support messages.  Additionally, the HeartMob community assists members with reporting comments or profiles on social media platforms and maintains documentation for potential legal action. 

TrollBusters is an at-the-ready network of supporters to respond to women journalists’ reports of online harassment by providing positive counterspeech. Their services include monitoring the targets’ social media accounts for continued attacks, sending continued counter-messaging, and conducting training on digital security and response measures.