How Russian gender-based disinformation could influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election
Vice President Kamala Harris may be the target of gender-centric disinformation campaigns by Russia, which seeks to divide and fragment groups in the U.S. and abroad by exploiting common understandings and stereotypes involving femininity, Canadian researcher Owen Wong reports in The Conversation.
The Conversation
Most people have a general understanding of disinformation — false information that is intentionally created to cause harm. Disinformation becomes “gendered” when deliberately false information draws on common understandings of issues like masculinity, femininity and sexual violence.
Although gender-based disinformation does not receive as much attention as race-based disinformation, it’s particularly dangerous because it taps into deep-seated beliefs about our own identities.
Narratives about gender identity are also harder to fact-check than simple true or false stories.
As the Democratic Convention gets underway in Chicago, Vice President Kamala Harris is increasingly vulnerable to gender-based disinformation campaigns — if she isn’t already a victim of them.
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