“My call to action is to question the messages we allow to shape young minds. What example are we setting for young women if their credibility can be warped or threatened by how tight their dress is, or how cautiously they interact with male counterparts?”
That was one of the key takeaways from CIDC Presidential Fellow Anjali Avatapalli’s presentation at The G-Lens Project: Against Online Abuse Over Girls and Women – Gendered Disinformation in the Balkans, which tackled how online spaces weaponize stereotypes, sexuality, and private life to silence women.
Hosted as an initiative by the Open Space Foundation, the event brought together young leaders, researchers, and activists from across the region to tackle an urgent issue: how gendered disinformation such as the spread of false or harmful narratives specifically targeting women and girls shapes online behavior and public perspective in the Balkans.
Anjali’s session explored the intent and impact behind disinformation structured around gender. Drawing from her work with CIDC, she emphasized how fact-checking, filtering content, and more vigorous checks of media sources, combined with guidance and media literacy training for the youth could encourage a more inclusive and considerate community.
In her presentation below, Anjali breaks down real cases — from a fake video that derailed an Albanian MP’s reputation, to a Serbian parliamentarian attacked online for wearing a red dress, to Ukrainian women refugees smeared by pro-Kremlin trolls.
Watch the full talk to see how these stories reveal the mechanics of gendered disinformation – and how young people can disrupt it.
