Information Warfare and the Gendered Architecture of Online Hate

Abstract Book of the 8th Global Conference on Women's Studies

Year: 2026

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Information Warfare and the Gendered Architecture of Online Hate

Paula Slier

ABSTRACT:

Contemporary information warfare does not operate in a gender-neutral environment. Women are disproportionately targeted, dehumanised, and silenced through coordinated online harassment, algorithmic amplification, and emotionally manipulative narratives that exploit existing gendered power structures. This paper examines how information warfare functions differently when directed at women, and why online hatred against women is not incidental but structurally embedded in digital communication systems.
Drawing on the author’s experience as an international journalist reporting from conflict zones, alongside analysis of digital media ecosystems, this paper explores how tactics traditionally associated with psychological warfare – disinformation, intimidation, reputational erosion, and emotional destabilisation – are repurposed in online spaces to undermine women’s credibility, agency, and participation in public life. Unlike men, women are more frequently attacked through gendered framing: sexualised abuse, threats of violence, moral policing, and attacks on appearance, motherhood, or perceived emotional instability.
The paper situates these dynamics within feminist media theory and information warfare studies, arguing that algorithm-driven platforms reward outrage and emotional engagement in ways that systematically disadvantage women. It further considers how prolonged exposure to online hostility leads to exhaustion, withdrawal, and self-censorship – outcomes that serve the strategic goals of information warfare by narrowing the range of voices in the public sphere.
Rather than positioning women as passive victims, this paper also reflects on pathways toward reclaiming agency: understanding the mechanics of manipulation, recognising patterns of coordinated abuse, and reframing online hostility as a structural phenomenon rather than an individual failure. By connecting gender studies with information warfare analysis, the paper contributes to broader discussions on power, resistance, and participation in digital public life.

Keywords: Information warfare; Online hate; Gendered harassment; Digital media; Feminist media studies; Women and power