Global partnership calls for action on gender-based online harassment and abuse

The governments of Australia, Chile, Denmark, France, Iceland, the Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden, New Zealand, the UK and the USA have released a joint statement calling attention to the urgent need to counter the spread of gendered disinformation and address all forms of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) against women in political and public life.

The countries are members of the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse (Global Partnership).

The statement says: "Gendered disinformation is a threat to societies defending peaceful, democratic values. False or misleading gender and sex-based narratives are being used in campaigns by malign actors to deter and discredit the participation of women, girls and LGBTQI+ persons in political and public life. This not only causes deep harm to the individuals targeted, but also threatens electoral integrity, access to information and the exercise of freedom of expression. At the same time, new and emerging technologies are being used to enable harmful, violent rhetoric and attacks against women, girls and LGBTQI+ public figures across borders at a scale and speed previously unseen.

"In our 2023 Road Map, the Global Partnership committed to promoting the meaningful participation in public life for women and girls, in all their diversity, by countering TFGBV and gendered disinformation.

"We welcome the work being done to shine a light on how and why gendered disinformation is conceived, who it targets and how it is spread. Last year, in a groundbreaking study, Canada, the European External Action Service, Germany, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, and the United States jointly assessed the tactics used by foreign state and non-state actors to sow gendered and other identity-based disinformation across the world."