From viral content to real-world toxicity: What ‘Louis Theroux: Inside The Manosphere’ tells us

Image credit: Netflix

Louis Theroux’s newest documentary, Louis Theroux: Inside The Manosphere, has highlighted an extreme, toxic strain of online culture – one which is fuelling misogynistic attitudes and behaviour on- and offline

As this misogynistic content is promoted, exaggerated and amplified  by algorithms and online platforms, and as our online and offline lives become increasingly interconnected, this content affects attitudes, behaviours, and relationships. 

What the documentary shows: a quick overview

Inside The Manosphere explores online communities and content producers who promote harmful ideas about gender, relationships, and power.

It highlights:

• Influencers who create and profit from misogynistic content
• Online spaces and communities where these extreme views are normalised
• How young people, particularly vulnerable  young men, are preyed upon and influenced by  these ideologies and drawn into these narratives
• The continuum of online/offline culture, attitudes and behaviors

The rise of the “manosphere”: What we already know

The idea of the “manosphere” – the interconnected online world where male influencers create and promote content to a largely male audience, and the communities that develop around this – is not new, but still unknown to many. Neither are the allegations that this content has played a role in real harms perpetrated against women and girls. 

For years, researchers and security experts have linked these online narratives to harmful behaviours, and have even warned that these online spaces fuel potentially dangerous acts of violence. 

The mechanics of digital space creates a troubling feedback loop, where these narratives are pushed to their extremes.  

• Content creators create more extreme content to increase engagement (and their income) 
• Digital platforms amplify extreme content because it drives engagement, thereby increasing its reach and visibility  (and their profits).
• Laws and policies have rarely kept up with how fast technologies and online spaces are changing, making regulation of this content difficult 

How online spaces facilitate and promote extreme misogyny for profit

In the “manosphere” in particular, the impact of misogynistic  attitudes and beliefs is heightened by the power dynamics in the online spaces where this content is shared, making the offline/online continuum of misogyny, violence and exclusion  all the more apparent. 

• Women are silenced, used, abused  and dehumanised by these narratives.
• Misogyny and violence is not challenged in these spaces –  those who do are mocked. 
• Content creators and influencers flaunt wealth and status to attract followers who seek to emulate their success, behaviours and ideals
• Boys and men can feel pressured by their online peers and influencers themselves  to conform to these narrow, harmful versions of masculinity
• LGBTQI+ people and those of other marginalised genders are also targeted for abuse in these spaces  as they do not comply with  conservative and extreme gender norms of the manosphere.
• Recommendation algorithms are designed to suggest similar content to users, creating an echo chamber which reinforces these attitudes, sometimes unconsciously.  

Hear from the experts

At Equality Now, we believe this is not just a cultural trend.  It is a gender equality and human rights issue.

We know that:

• Online harm can translate into real-world violence and discrimination
• Legal systems often do enough protection for those at risk from these attitudes and behaviours, particularly in online spaces
• Lasting change requires both accountability and prevention measures

There is an urgent need for design-based regulation which addresses the proliferation of harmful and misogynistic content online, in the “manosphere” and beyond. The content producers who profit from the proliferation of this harmful content, as well as the platforms and engineers who design and manipulate the predatory algorithms and online spaces that contribute to its influence and weaponise digital spaces, need to be held to account. The culture and messaging that have allowed this deeply toxic and harmful content to flourish also need to be taken seriously into account and addressed.

– Alexandra Patsalides, Senior Legal Advisor, Equality Now

Most boys who watch this type of content won’t end up in a harmful community. But it’s still worth paying attention… …. because the promises made by powerful influencers can make harmful ideas attractive.

—  Australia eSafety Commissioner 

What needs to change: Tackling online misogyny

Addressing what we see in the ‘manosphere’ requires an approach which acknowledges both the source of these misogynistic ideas and the mechanics which amplify, and in some cases reward, the creators of content that share them. 

Better laws and protections
Laws and regulations need to be fit-for purpose, and protect the safety and dignity of  women, girls and other vulnerable groups across online and offline spaces, and across the multiple jurisdictions where online content is hosted and shared.  As Equality Now, we are advocating both for the implementation of existing laws which protect women, girls and marginalised groups from all forms of abuse, as well as the development of joined-up legislation at regional and global  levels which takes into account the nature of digital space and which makes specific reference to new forms of violence facilitated by emerging technologies – leaving no room for ambiguity. 

Platform accountability
Technology companies play a key role in what content is seen, how it is amplified, and how it rewards those who create and share it – and they have a responsibility to protect the human rights, safety and dignity of the users of their platforms. We have recently seen judgements against tech companies whose algorithms have allowed harmful content to be promoted and will be watching as more cases progress around the world. 

Safety-by-design principles
When potential harms can be predicted, there is no excuse not to consider and mitigate them across all stages of the conception, design and deployment of emerging technologies and digital products. We are advocating for regulation which  embeds  safety-by-design principles throughout the life cycle of digital products and platforms. 

Education and prevention
Digital literacy and critical thinking skills should be instilled to allow people – particularly those targeted by harmful algorithms – to understand why particular content appears in their feeds, and how to assess it. This is especially important as AI development makes manipulated and synthetic content more commonplace. Mechanisms to call out and report misinformation and disinformation on platforms should be a requirement across all digital spaces. 

Building better narratives
Those vulnerable to the toxic messaging of the “manosphere” should be engaged directly, welcomed into and encouraged to create communities of support, and shown alternative points of view.