Three quarters (77%) of women are not comfortable expressing political opinions online because of fears they will be targeted by harmful online behaviours such as misogyny, trolling, threats and harassment, according to new research published today (Wednesday 20 March) at AI UK, the UK's national showcase of data science and AI hosted by The Alan Turing Institute.
The survey found that while men and women reported seeing harmful content online almost equally overall, women reported being directly targeted by misogyny, cyberstalking, cyberflashing, eating disorder content, and image based sexual abuse to a significantly greater extent than men.
Women are also significantly more fearful of experiencing every type of harm that they were asked about.
The research also found that women were 96% more likely than men to say they had been left feeling sad or low as a result of an online experience, and 47% more likely than men to say they had been left with physical symptoms such as insomnia or headaches.
The research also looked at the use of safety tools and across all seven tools surveyed, including disabling location sharing, making accounts private and limiting who can engage with posts, women consistently report using these tools to a greater extent than men. This could suggest that women feel the need to do more to protect themselves from online harms.
The results, gained from a new nationally representative survey of 2000 adults in the UK, examines gender differences in exposure to 15 specific online harms. It also looks at how different genders experience fears surrounding these harms, the psychological impact of online experiences, comfort with online behaviours and tools used to keep safe online.
The survey tested for gender differences in how comfortable people feel with seven common online behaviours. These were expressing political opinions, expressing opinions more generally, directly challenging harmful content, sharing personal information, sharing photos of self, sharing photos of friends and family, and sharing photos of activities.
With much public discourse now happening online, gender inequality in public spaces is likely to be perpetuated if women feel too fearful to participate.
Dr Florence Enock, Senior Research Associate at The Alan Turing Institute and paper co-lead, said: “Taking steps to ensure that all members of society feel safe and able to participate in the online space is essential for an equal society.
“This is more important than ever as over half the world is due to vote in 2024 and much discourse around this will be expressed online. In order for women to fully engage politically they must feel safe doing so in both offline and online spaces.”
Dr Jonathan Bright, Head of Online Safety at The Alan Turing Institute, said: “This research is crucial first step in determining the psychological burden that different genders suffer in response to harmful online content. This work provides valuable information about who is most at risk, where support should be directed, and what interventions are needed to ensure all members of society feel safe.”
