Gendered Disinformation

This chapter sets the stage for examining gendered disinformation within feminist foreign policy analysis. It traces the rise of gendered disinformation as a security threat, emphasising the transformative impact of digital technologies and social media on the dissemination and logic of disinformation strategies. The chapter explores how authoritarian regimes and actors use gendered disinformation to amplify polarisation around gender norms and how domestic limitations to gender equality thereby become vulnerabilities. It advocates for a gender-informed understanding of societal resilience integral to democratic states' capacity to resist disinformation. Paradoxically, the rise of gendered disinformation may enhance the prominence of feminist and gender considerations in foreign policy by framing gender and women's rights, representation and resources in terms of security. However, efforts to counter gendered disinformation are contentious due to the polarised nature of gender norms and the complex interplay between introspection and regulatory measures needed in a digital society.