‘Slept her way to the top’ and a million slurs. Gendered hate speech and disinformation targeting female politicians in European legal perspective

Abstract

Violence against women in politics is not a recent phenomenon, but its impact has intensified with the rise of digital technology. Among its most harmful manifestations are gendered hate speech and gendered disinformation, posing serious threats to human rights and democracy. This thesis examines how European legal frameworks address these phenomena, focusing on two main aspects: conceptualising their scope and impact, and analysing legal responses within instruments of the Council of Europe and the European Union, including jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. The research highlights the difficulty of defining the boundaries of gendered hate speech, largely due to the lack of universal standards and recognition. This creates uncertainty about when gendered speech should be excluded from free speech protections, particularly in political contexts where those protections are especially robust. Gendered disinformation is identified as a distinct yet interconnected phenomenon, whose hybrid nature presents intricacies for legal classification and regulation. These challenges are echoed in the governance of social media platforms, where the EU Digital Services Act offers progress but remains constrained by vague definitions, uneven enforcement, and the evolving role of Artificial Intelligence. This thesis ultimately calls for comprehensive, gender-sensitive legal frameworks to effectively address these threats. Key words: gendered hate speech, gendered disinformation, violence against women in politics, social media, Council of Europe, EU.