False information during the COVID-19 pandemic and parallel infodemic has revealed itself to be persistent, resilient, strategic, and adaptive. Over these many months, certain topics have resurfaced under the guise of current events. The EU DisinfoLab, has been tracking how misogynistic narratives have been retrieved and adapted to fit within the mis- and disinformation landscape around COVID-19 – an event which has had a disproportionately negative impact on women’s rights.

This report adopts a disinformation methodological lens to look at examples of gendered disinformation – specifically disinformation that relies on negative depictions of women – circulating during the pandemic.

Author: Maria Giovanna Sessa