Study confirms women in politics face increased social media attacks

A recent study has confirmed that women in politics are subjected to a higher degree of attacks and abuse on social media platforms compared to their male counterparts. The research analysed millions of posts and also revealed that the language used against politicians in the UK is more abusive than in other countries. This incivility includes misogynistic and sexist comments, violent threats, and attempts to defame or humiliate, according to the Daily Mirror.

Key takeaways from the incident:

• The study, which analyzed 23 million posts on X (formerly known as Twitter) aimed at politicians in the UK, Spain, Germany, and the US, found that women in Europe face online "incivility" regardless of their level of fame. This incivility includes hate speech, stereotypes, undermining or excluding a social group, threats, name-calling, casting aspersions, pejorative language, and sarcasm.


• Research associate professor of politics at Newcastle University and lead researcher of the study, Maarja Lühiste, noted that female candidates often receive morality-focused insults like 'vile,' 'shame,' 'shameful,' 'disgraceful,' 'hypocrite,' and 'deluded.' They also receive more messages with personal attacks, including words like 'kill,' 'destroy,' and 'rape,' rather than simple swear words.


• The study, published in Politics & Gender by Cambridge University Press, indicated that posts targeting Spanish and German politicians used fewer deliberately abusive words compared to those aimed at US and UK politicians. Lühiste explained that while both men and women politicians experience incivility, women in Europe receive uncivil tweets even when they are not well known.


• Several female politicians in the UK have spoken out about their experiences with online abuse. In 2019, Heidi Allen cited “utterly dehumanising” abuse as a reason for stepping down as an MP. Nicky Morgan, former culture secretary, also stepped down as MP in 2019, noting the increased abuse due to online platforms and strong political feelings. Angela Rayner mentioned in 2023 that she barely reads online posts due to the abuse and believes female politicians experience it more often, aiming to silence them.

Giulia Fossati, a member of the centre-left Partito Democratico in Italy, shared her experiences of online harassment, noting that insults often combine digs at her gender and age. She said that she gets many comments, especially when she talks about feminist topics, citing examples like “go to the kitchen,” or “idiot shut up”.

Professor Anne Rasmussen, of King’s College London, and Dr Gregory Eady, from the University of Copenhagen, co-authored a new comparative study and published in the the American Political Science Review, which found that abuse directed at women in politics is viewed as more severe than those aimed at men, even if the nature and frequency of abuse received is similar. The study also explains why this occurs, showing that attacks on women are more likely to be perceived as motivated by misogyny and a desire to exclude women from public office, compared to abuse directed at men.

Emily Harmer and Rosalynd Southern assessed online abuse directed at MPs on Twitter, and their findings suggest that for the receipt of certain types of incivility, there is little difference between female and male MPs. However, female MPs were more likely than male MPs to receive generally uncivil tweets, tweets with stereotypes about their identity, and tweets questioning their position as politicians. They also identify more subtle microaggressions that position women and minority MPs as unqualified and unwelcome in politics.