Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THERE HAS BEEN an increase in children using language similar to that of misogynistic influencers such as Andrew Tate, domestic violence charity Sonas says.
Sonas says staff have noticed that in the past year, boys as young as eight have been repeating extreme views about women, displaying hostility towards mothers and normalising controlling and degrading behaviour in the home.
In recent years there has been a growth in masculinity influencers, who often have large followings of boys and young men, and post content which may promote harmful ideologies, attitudes and behaviours. One of the most well-known influencers is Andrew Tate, who is currently facing legal proceedings in Romania.
Sonas, which provides refuges and safe homes for victims of domestic violence, is calling on Coimisiún na Meán to increase safeguards protecting children from misogynistic influencer content, naming content associated with figures such as Tate as a particular concern.
Speaking to The Journal, Sonas chief executive Fiona O’Malley said that in one case, an eight-year-old child called his mother a “dish pig” and threw objects at her when he disliked his dinner.
The term is slang for a restaurant dishwasher and has begun to be used as a derogatory term against women.
The mother of the child said her son had parental restrictions on his social media, but when she checked his phone she realised content from masculinity influencers was still accessible.
O’Malley said that, commonly in domestic violence cases, children take the side of the parent subject to abuse and defend them against the aggressor. However, she said that this trend is now changing.
“We’re hearing more and more reports of particularly young boys and teenagers turning more on the mother,” she added.
She said that recently a woman was recounting the physical abuse that she was subjected to by her husband, when the woman’s teenage son said she “deserved it because she’s a bitch”.
“These kinds of incidents reflect the fact that online misogynistic content is having an impact, or even shaping attitudes towards women amongst young children and young men using our services,” O’Malley said.
Sonas organises safe homes and refuges for women and children facing domestic violence. However, O’Malley said that now some women don’t even feel safe once leaving the aggressor.
“The most common phrase that [women] will use when they come to our services and stay with us is: ‘I finally feel at peace, or I finally feel like I can breathe’, but now we’re seeing a change,” O’Malley said.
“Once they leave the home where the violence has occurred, it still follows an awful lot of these women because they’re now experiencing it from their children as well, which is very harrowing.”
Sonas is calling on Coimisiún na Meán to examine whether existing online safety powers can be strengthened to require platforms to “reduce algorithmic amplification, introduce stronger age-gating, and limit children’s exposure to misogynistic influencer content that promotes coercive control, violence towards, or hatred of women”.
“The manosphere is not just harmless online banter,” O’Malley said.
“Much of this content packages misogyny as empowerment and presents controlling, humiliating or degrading women as normal male behaviour. For children and teenagers, particularly those already exposed to violence in the home, these messages can become deeply normalised.”
Under Ireland’s Online Safety Framework, platforms are already required to implement measures to protect children from harmful content, but Sonas says these protections should now explicitly include stronger action against misogynistic influencer content.
“We have spent decades trying to tackle violence against women after the harm occurs,” said O’Malley.
“We now need to look seriously at the ecosystem helping to normalise misogyny before it escalates into abuse. No child should grow up believing it is acceptable to humiliate, intimidate or degrade women.”
In the meantime, O’Malley advised parents to review the social media channels their child is using and consider taking away their phone if they begin displaying attitudes similar to that of masculinity influencers. She encouraged anyone who feels unsafe at home to contact Sonas.
In a statement to The Journal, Coimisiún na Meán encouraged people to report content online whihc they believe to be illegal.
“Under our Online Safety Framework, there is an obligation on platforms to act on reports of illegal content. Users can report illegal content; and platforms may suspend the accounts of users who continue to post manifestly illegal content,” the agency said.
“We would also encourage users to report to the platforms content which may not be illegal, but which may be against the Terms and Conditions of those platforms. All online platforms must include in their Terms and Conditions information on the restrictions they impose on the use of their service and must enforce these Terms and Conditions diligently.”
Other resources:
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say