International Women’s Day 2025: Fighting Gendered Disinformation in the Digital Age

BY: Mustapha Lawal

International Women’s Day (IWD) is a moment for reflection, celebration, and, most importantly, action. International Women’s Day dates back to the early 20th century when over 15,000 women marched in New York City, demanding fair wages, voting rights, and better working conditions. It was officially recognized by the United Nations in 1975.

Since that first march, women globally have pushed back against systems and practices designed to subjugate them. As the world embraces this year’s theme, “Accelerate Progress”, it is impossible to ignore the digital battleground where misinformation is weaponized against women. In the era of deepfakes, AI-generated propaganda, and algorithm-driven bias, gendered disinformation has become one of the most insidious threats to women’s participation in leadership, media, and public discourse.

This is not a theoretical concern, it is a lived reality. Women in politics, activism, and journalism face relentless attacks aimed at silencing them. The tactics employed to silence women and undermine their credibility are multifaceted and insidious. They range from challenges to their expertise, falsely portraying them as incompetent or uninformed, to more covert methods such as the dissemination of manipulated images or fabricated information aimed at tarnishing their reputation. 

These attacks can take various forms, including online harassment, the spread of rumors, or the deliberate misrepresentation of their words or actions. The ultimate objective behind these efforts is to create an atmosphere of distrust, making it difficult for women’s voices to be heard and their contributions to be taken seriously. A 2022 report by UNESCO and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) found that 73% of women journalists worldwide have experienced online violence—a staggering statistic that underscores the urgency of the issue.

Gendered Disinformation: A Digital War Against Women

Gendered disinformation is not just about spreading falsehoods; it is a deliberate strategy to undermine women’s credibility and discourage them from public engagement. Unlike regular misinformation, which misrepresents facts, gendered disinformation often takes a sexist, misogynistic, or hypersexualized form, targeting women simply for daring to exist in male-dominated spaces.

We have seen it play out globally, from fabricated scandals about female politicians to coordinated smear campaigns against women’s rights advocates. In Nigeria, disinformation has been used to paint female political candidates as incompetent or controlled by male figures. In Kenya, deepfake images have been used to humiliate female journalists. And in South Africa, activists challenging gender-based violence have faced coordinated attacks online.

In the health sector, misinformation about women’s reproductive health is rampant online. Misinformation about reproductive health, particularly concerning contraception and fertility treatments, is widespread, especially on platforms like WhatsApp where unchecked messages are frequently shared. This has tangible consequences: for instance, false information about birth control side effects has decreased its use in rural areas, leading to more unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. The lack of reliable and accessible information on reproductive health only serves to worsen the situation, allowing harmful myths to spread and endanger women’s lives.

This disinformation is not harmless, it has real-world consequences. It discourages women from running for office, weakens their influence in policymaking, and normalizes violence against them. Worse still, the spread of false narratives makes it harder for legitimate issues such as gender-based violence, equal pay, and reproductive rights to gain the attention they deserve.

FactCheckAfrica’s Fight Against Gendered Disinformation

At FactCheckAfrica, we understand that the battle for gender equality is intertwined with the fight for information integrity. Our platform actively works to debunk false narratives that target women, especially those in politics and media. We expose fake news about female candidates during, before and after elections and analyze deepfake campaigns that attempt to discredit women’s achievements. We, at FactCheckAfrica remain dedicated to ensuring that women’s voices are not silenced by misinformation.

For instance, our team have uncovered multiple disinformation campaigns targeted at female candidates, including fabricated social media posts and misleading headlines designed to derail their campaigns, perceptions and position. We have organised several conferences and capacity building sessions aimed at combatting gendered disinformation. Through fact-checking, and media literacy training, we continue to push back against the digital misogyny that threatens democracy and women’s rights. 

As we mark International Women’s Day 2025, we must ask ourselves: how do we ensure that the digital space remains a tool for empowerment rather than oppression? It starts with dismantling the systems that allow gendered disinformation to flourish from holding tech companies accountable for moderating harmful content to amplifying fact-based narratives that support women’s rights.

At FactCheckAfrica, we believe that truth is power. And as long as misinformation is used to silence women, our work remains critical. This IWD, let’s commit to not just celebrating women but protecting their right to be heard, believed, and respected both online and offline.