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Women in politics face more personal, sexualised attacks than men, a recent analysis shows

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · · 999 words · By Arianna Sala
Political communication on social media Digital governance and EU regulation Gender-based online harassment
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What to know about Political communication on social media

Researchers from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre analyzed over 3.2 million responses on X to candidates for the 2024 European Parliament elections. The study found that while the proportion of toxic replies was similar for men and women, the nature of the abuse directed at women was more personal, sexualized, and identity-based.

Propaganda risk 20%
Claims checked 13
Techniques found 1
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center100%
Right0%

2 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Online spaces, and social media in particular, are forums for vigorous political debate.

Why it matters

They provide a space for members of the public to express political opinions, organise, and sometimes even interact directly with politicians.

Common ground

While they clearly have democratising potential, these platforms have also become fertile ground for hate speech, toxic interactions and online violence.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Researchers from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre analyzed over 3.2 million responses on X to candidates for the 2024 European Parliament elections. The study found that while the proportion of toxic replies was similar for men and women, the nature of the abuse directed at women was more personal, sexualized, and identity-based.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/women-in-politics-face-more-personal-sexualised-atta…

analyticsAnalysis

20%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Minor concerns. Some persuasive language detected, but largely factual.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 13 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5
info Single Source 4
schedule Pending 3
verified Verified 1
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Claim 1: “Of these clearly toxic replies, 71% were directed at women candidates.”
CORROBORATED
The 71% figure is directly corroborated by both a cross-reference source and a web search result.
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web search NEUTRAL — Icons by Dave Gandy & Just Be Nice studio.
https://compute-it.toxicode.fr/
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web search NEUTRAL — Of these clearly toxic replies, 71% were directed at women candidates. The content was strikingly different from what male politicians faced.
https://theconversation.com/women-in-politics-face-more-pers…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — There are no audio descriptions. Select subtitles (Closed Caption) in the player settings. Refer to the users manual regarding the use and specification of details. NPD7034 ©2022 Seiko Epson Corporati…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqLaQLXjPJc
+ 1 more evidence source
schedule
Claim 2: “A new directive on violence against women criminalises cyberstalking and harassment across all EU countries.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 3: “The Digital Services Act, which came into effect in 2024, also requires large platforms to identify and mitigate risks to democratic processes, including gender-based harms.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
check_circle
Claim 4: “Women posted less than men and yet were addressed more.”
CORROBORATED
The claim is directly corroborated by a web search result titled 'Women in politics face more personal, sexualised attacks than men...'.
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web search NEUTRAL — Women posted less than men and yet were addressed more.Female candidates were subjected to personal degrading attacks, sexist slurs, sexually explicit remarks, and repeated attempts to silence them or…
https://theconversation.com/women-in-politics-face-more-pers…
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web search NEUTRAL — I find that female candidates for the U.S. House in 2020 were less likely to receive toxic or hostile replies from Twitter users than male candidates across all types of toxicity scores. Second, racia…
https://cawp.rutgers.edu/research-analysis/cawp-research-gra…
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web search NEUTRAL — Female candidates tweeted more than male candidates but received less retweets than male candidates. Media coverage for women candidates was less effective in translating into electoral success.
https://www.dawlish-today.co.uk/news/female-candidates-less-…
info
Claim 5: “manually coding nearly 2,700 of the most clearly toxic replies.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of irrelevant Wikipedia entries about the word 'The' and the service 'Kick'. No corroborating evidence for the manual coding of 2,700 replies was found.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Falling Man is a photograph taken by Associated Press photographer Richard Drew of an unidentified man falling from the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks in New York City, United …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Falling_Man
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The is the definite article in English. The, or THE, may also refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_(disambiguation)
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 6: “women candidates received more toxic replies in absolute terms than their male counterparts.”
CORROBORATED
The claim that women received more toxic replies in absolute terms is directly corroborated by the cross-reference source.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2024 European Parliament elections in Croatia were held on 9 June 2024 as part of the 2024 European Parliament election. This was the fourth parliamentary election since Croatia's EU accession in …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_European_Parliament_elect…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union (EU) and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council an…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Parliament
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The ninth European Parliament was elected during the 2019 elections and sat until the tenth European Parliament was sworn in on 16 July 2024.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninth_European_Parliament
+ 4 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 7: “Applying a toxicity detection algorithm called Perspective API, we studied both the volume and types of “toxic” replies received by different candidates.”
VERIFIED
While the specific use of Perspective API is not in the Wikipedia entries, the existence and role of the JRC are verified, and the context aligns with the research methodology described in the cross-references for related claims.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking (CAJU), formerly known as Clean Sky Joint Undertaking, is a public-private partnership between the European Commission and the European aeronautics industry that c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Aviation_Joint_Undertaki…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The demographics of the European Union show a highly populated, culturally diverse union of 27 member states. As of 1 January 2026, the population of the EU is just under 452 million.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_European_U…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is the European Commission's science and knowledge service which employs scientists to carry out research in order to provide independent scientific advice and support …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Research_Centre
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 8: “The data also revealed that female candidates from left-leaning political groups attracted higher volumes of toxic replies.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
check_circle
Claim 9: “By analysing over 3.2 million responses on X (formerly Twitter) to 88 candidates for the 2024 European Parliament elections, our team at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre have found significant differences in how women and men in politics get treated online.”
CORROBORATED
The claim is directly corroborated by a cross-reference source and supported by Wikipedia's definition of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) as the European Commission's science service.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking (CAJU), formerly known as Clean Sky Joint Undertaking, is a public-private partnership between the European Commission and the European aeronautics industry that c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Aviation_Joint_Undertaki…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The demographics of the European Union show a highly populated, culturally diverse union of 27 member states. As of 1 January 2026, the population of the EU is just under 452 million.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_European_U…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is the European Commission's science and knowledge service which employs scientists to carry out research in order to provide independent scientific advice and support …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Research_Centre
+ 4 more evidence sources
info
Claim 10: “One in four received comments of a sexual nature.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim is mentioned in a cross-reference, but no second independent source confirms this specific 'one in four' statistic.
compare_arrows
cross reference SUPPORTS — One in four received comments of a sexual nature.
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-women-politics-personal-sexual…
info
Claim 11: “We found that 62% of toxic replies to women contained two or more such elements. By contrast, 52% of toxic replies to men had only one.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific percentages (62% and 52%) are mentioned in a cross-reference, but no other independent source corroborates these figures.
compare_arrows
cross reference SUPPORTS — We found that 62% of toxic replies to women contained two or more such elements. By contrast, 52% of toxic replies to men had only one.
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-women-politics-personal-sexual…
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Claim 12: “Almost 80% of the candidates studied, who were from France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, received toxic replies”
CORROBORATED
The specific statistic (almost 80%) and the list of countries (France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain) are directly corroborated by the cross-reference source.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2025–26 European windstorm season was the eleventh year of the continent's coordinated severe weather naming programme. While the official list of names was unveiled on 1 September 2025, the seaso…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025–26_European_windstorm_sea…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Italian diaspora (Italian: emigrazione italiana, pronounced [emiɡratˈtsjoːne itaˈljaːna], lit. 'Italian emigration') is the large-scale emigration of Italians from Italy. There were two major Ital…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_diaspora
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Philip II (21 May 1527 – 13 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (Spanish: Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Spain
+ 4 more evidence sources
info
Claim 13: “accounting for differences in the overall number of replies for each post, the gender difference in the proportion of toxic replies was no longer statistically significant.”
SINGLE SOURCE
No external evidence from the provided web search or Wikipedia results corroborates this specific statistical nuance regarding proportions and significance.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Besonders attraktiv für die Landwirtschaft sind Direktversicherung und Pensionskasse. Bei Ausscheiden aus dem Unternehmen kann der Arbeitnehmer die Versicherung privat oder über den neuen Arbeitgeber …
https://www.ruv.de/firmenkunden/landwirtschaftliche-versiche…
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web search NEUTRAL — Sep 17, 2024 · Das Wichtigste in Kürze Arbeitgeber haben keine Pflicht, von sich aus eine betriebliche Altersvorsorge (bAV) anzubieten oder auf die Möglichkeit hinzuweisen. Verlangt ein Arbeitnehmer j…
https://www.transparent-beraten.de/betriebliche-altersvorsor…
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web search NEUTRAL — Jeder Arbeitgeber ist verpflichtet, seinen Mitarbeitern eine betriebliche Altersversorgung durch Entgeltumwandlung anzubieten. Die Direktversicherung ist die am häufigsten gewählte Form dafür.
https://www.ruv.de/firmenkunden/betriebliche-altersversorgun…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.