Targeted for Speaking Out
Gendered Disinformation and Digital Resilience in Bangladesh’s Polycrisis
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17823245 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Farah Zahan Shuchy (0009-0003-3059-4663, University of Dhaka, corresponding author), Md Azaher Uddin (0009-0007-1551-3772, University of Dhaka) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Media and Communication (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2183-2439 • E-ISSN: 2183-2439 |
| Publisher | Cogitatio (PUBLISHER • PT) |
| DOI | 10.17645/mac.11429 |
| OpenAlex | W7146947231 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 44 |
This article examines how disinformation and harassment targeted women activists since Bangladesh’s July–August 2024 mass uprising—and how they responded. Focusing on Facebook and Telegram—central since the uprising—we show how vigilantism and misogyny turned these spaces into hypermediated battlegrounds. Sexualized slurs and visuals, fabricated scandals, and moral shaming worked as coordinated repertoires that blurred truth and falsehood, delegitimized participation, and spilled into offline intimidation. Based on semi-structured interviews with 25 activists and a feminist critical discourse analysis of social media artifacts, this study engages networked misogyny, digital vigilantism, and digital social resilience. It contributes, first, empirical evidence of gendered disinformation as violence that weaponizes visibility, mobilizes audiences as enforcers, and reconfigures reputations across online/offline spheres; and second, an account of resilience as collective and relational rather than solely technical or individual, while exposing platform and institutional failures. The analysis advances Global South feminist perspectives and recommends more context-specific interventions toward disinformation and resilience
Critical discourse analysis · Cyberculture · Digital media · Disinformation · Harassment · Politics · Social media · Bangladesh Politics, Society, and Development · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Social Media and Politics
Credible Threat
Violence against Women in Politics
The world report on violence and health
Feminist Approaches to Disinformation Studies
Surviving amid gendered disinformation
Fighting gendered misinformation and harassment on social media for Bangladesh’s female journalists
Gendered disinformation
Combating Repeated Lies
Homophily and Polarization in Twitter Political Networks
An Exploratory Study of Fact-Checking Practices in Conflict and Authoritarian Contexts
Online misogyny against female candidates in the 2022 Brazilian elections
Digital Vigilantism as Weaponisation of Visibility
Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence Against Politically Active Women
Reconstructing gendered narratives through digital platforms and inclusive chatbots
Gender-Based Disinformation
Resilience
Unpacking intersectional solidarity
Media
Technology facilitated coercive control
MasculinitySoFragile
Misogyny in election discourse
Women’s activism online in Italy
Women’s Participation in Bangladesh Politics, The Gender Wall and Quotas
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Gender as a central site of inquiry within mis- and disinformation studies
The Nature of Visual Disinformation Online
Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis
Cultural Violence
Affective Economies
The Platformization of Violence
The Discursive Construction of Populist and Misogynist Nationalism
The Amazing Bounce-Backable Woman
Women Under Hindutva
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |