Anti-gender narratives and gender-based disinformation are increasingly being used to polarize society, undermine democratic processes, and discourage women from participating in politics, the media, and public life, participants concluded at today’s event, which featured a dialogue and workshop on “Building Resilience to Gendered-Related Information Manipulation.” The event was organized by the Metamorphosis Foundation and International IDEA. Speakers included representatives of the Embassy of Sweden, the State Election Commission, the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services (AVMU), and HERA. The event was attended by journalists, representatives of civil society organizations, as well as officials from the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
Participants warned that these coordinated campaigns, which intensify particularly during election periods, fuel distrust in institutions and democratic values. Analyses also show that women continue to be significantly underrepresented as the voices delivering political messages in the media. It was further noted that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have made it even easier to create and spread disinformation, underscoring the need for institutions, the media, and civil society to work together to develop mechanisms that safeguard the democratic space and promote gender equality.
Dahlberg Frisk: We are concerned about what we are seeing in North Macedonia
Elisabet Dahkberg Frisk, Deputy Ambassador of Sweden to North Macedonia, said that gender equality is a very important foundation of Sweden’s policies, adding that, as she noted, more equal societies would bring greater security and strengthen democracy.
“In North Macedonia, we are concerned by what we are seeing, as there has been a rise in anti-gender movements and anti-gender narratives. These are efforts aimed at undermining progress on gender equality, contributing to polarization and division within society, and weakening democracy. These movements and narratives have been gaining strength in recent years. Disinformation is used to create distrust. State-controlled Russian media have also targeted Sweden with anti-gender disinformation campaigns aimed at undermining democratic values. This has consequences for the lives of women and young people and can influence public debate. How do we respond? In Sweden, we have established the Swedish Psychological Defence Agency, which works to protect society against disinformation, safeguard democratic integrity, and strengthen a comprehensive societal approach aimed at countering harmful narratives,” said Dahlberg Frisk.
“These campaigns are designed to exploit existing domestic divisions. In addition to foreign influence, we are now also seeing domestic information manipulation, and one of the most effective ways to undermine democratic values is precisely through gender narratives. There are harmful influences and narratives aimed at polarizing society and distancing citizens from democratic values. This is an attack on civil society and freedom in general,” said Hoxha. She explained that International IDEA is a global organization that monitors trends, but that the objective is the same everywhere: harmful narratives seek to target democratic actors and discredit institutions, especially during election periods.
According to Hoxha, gender-based disinformation is not an isolated phenomenon in this process.
“When it comes to EU integration, harmful narratives also target the accession process. At International IDEA, we work in cooperation with election authorities to help align practices with EU standards. EU reports have also noted that North Macedonia is lagging behind in harmonizing its legislation with EU law,” Hoxha emphasized.
Alisa Schaible, Program Officer at International IDEA, also said that the aim of disinformation and FIMI (Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference) is to undermine democratic participation and promote agendas that use gender to advance specific political goals. She presented an analysis of the situation in Albania, which showed that campaigns in the country are mostly domestic in origin, but use globally circulating narratives to achieve greater reach and legitimacy.
“Regarding the draft laws on reproductive health, particularly the 2025 legislation, the strongest online campaign in Albania generated 18,795 posts, with 42 percent of those posts containing explicit disinformation. In relation to the country’s 2023 local elections and the 2025 parliamentary elections, identity was used as a campaign tool, framed as the ‘defence of faith, family, and nation’ against foreign agendas,” Scheible said.
Rizaov: Gender-based disinformation pushes women, female journalists, and activists out of the public sphere
Goran Rizaov, Program Manager for Media and Information Integrity at the Metamorphosis Foundation, emphasized that harmful narratives related to gender equality, women’s rights, the LGBTIQ+ community, women in politics, female journalists, and activists make these groups easy targets.
“There is already a significant divide in society on these issues. They are easily used to mobilize anger, create panic, provoke fear, and trigger irrational reactions. They are presented as a ‘threat’ to the traditional family, traditional values, the state, children, or anything else that may serve the purpose at a given moment. The consequences of this are very serious. It is not only about the hundreds of comments containing threats of violence that appear on social media; it is also about the fact that, because of these narratives, people withdraw from the public sphere,” said Rizaov.
He added that, as a result, women question whether it is even worth entering politics.
“Female journalists ask themselves whether it is worth publishing another investigative story, knowing that it will lead to another wave of insults and attacks. Activists and civil society organizations become targets rather than participants in the decision-making process. From this point onward, we are no longer talking only about gender equality, we are talking about democratic participation. It should be clear that such narratives amount to censorship, they are not freedom of speech. This is particularly important in an electoral context, because elections are not only about election day and the ballot box. Elections are also about the atmosphere leading up to them: what people see, whom they trust, what they fear, and whether they believe that their participation in the electoral process has any value or purpose at all,” Rizaov explained.
AVMU: Women remain on the margins of political campaigns, while men dominate media coverage
Marina Trajkova from the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services presented an analysis of news coverage and advertisements on national television channels and the public broadcaster during the pre-election periods in 2020 and 2025.
In 2020, during the pre-election campaign for the parliamentary elections, women accounted for 14.5 percent of speaking time, while men accounted for 85.5 percent. In paid political advertising (PPA) spots, women spoke for 22.9 percent of the time, compared to 77.1 percent for men. In footage from rallies, women accounted for 14.4 percent of speaking time, while men accounted for 85.6 percent. We also analyzed the news coverage on MRT1 and MRT2. Women were featured speaking in 40.9 percent of news reports, while men accounted for 59.1 percent. In 2020, out of more than 1,700 news reports analyzed across all television channels, gender-related issues appeared in only three reports.
“During the 2020 pre-election campaign, women did not speak at all about security, media, or propaganda, while the topics they addressed most frequently were education, the economy, and healthcare. In the 2025 pre-election campaign, women spoke the least about security and the rule of law, and most frequently, given that these were local elections, about public services, the environment, healthcare, and inclusion. The most prominent gender-related topic was women’s economic empowerment, but gender issues are always on the margins of political campaigns. Women and men are not equally represented as the voices delivering political messages. Men dominate as the primary subjects and speakers. In footage from party events, the primary subjects are men, while women appear as supporting figures in the background. Women were more present visually than through their voices. Overall, men spoke significantly more than women across all topics,” Trajkova said in her presentation.
Sanela Shkrielj, Head of the Public Policy and Advocacy Program at HERA – Health Education and Research Association, said that we are facing attacks aimed at reversing progress on gender equality and undermining women’s position in society.
“We should view gender equality both from the perspective of disinformation and as a security issue. In what we refer to as FIMI (Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference) and interference, particularly in election processes, gender is very much used as an entry point for these influences. Last year, a report was presented indicating that between 2019 and 2023, $1.8 billion was invested in anti-gender movements aimed at spreading anti-gender narratives. These are well-organized, systemic movements that target institutions, create distrust and chaos, and polarize society,” said Shkrielj.
In this regard, she added, North Macedonia is affected, given that these movements have been identified in the country and that there have also been protests against the Law on Gender Equality.
“The EU’s 2024 report also highlights the rise of anti-gender movements. As actors in this field, we are also targets of these anti-democratic movements, which aim to undermine progress on gender equality. These campaigns and narratives are not unique to North Macedonia, they appear wherever these movements are present. Political actors exploit anti-gender movements, especially before elections, in the name of defending certain ‘traditional values.’ This is where parties and politicians have a responsibility, particularly when it comes to the representation and role of women. Women are exposed to disinformation and attacks on social media, with the aim of pushing them out of the public sphere,” said Shkrielj.
Richliev: Disinformation is changing in the age of AI
Speaking about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), Zoran Richliev, a digital media expert at the Metamorphosis Foundation, emphasized that disinformation is changing in the age of AI.
“Large language models can generate hundreds of pieces of information. The most common examples are deepfake videos and audio, which previously required days to create but can now be produced in a very short time. Gender-based disinformation spreads through coordinated campaigns that use cultural stereotypes to push women out of the public sphere. When a man is attacked, the focus is usually on his ideological views, whereas when a woman is attacked, the focus is placed on her appearance, morality, or family status. For example, female journalists from the Investigative Reporting Lab (IRL) are frequently targeted. In 2023, Dragan Pavlovikj Latas published a series of posts targeting Sashka Cvetkovska and Denica Chadikovska, accompanied by photos, with the aim of provoking hateful comments. The purpose was to discourage them from pursuing an important investigation related to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The goal of these attacks was to force them to withdraw,” said Richliev.
Ditmire Shehu from the State Election Commission (SEC) also took part in the discussion, noting that the SEC is developing transparent processes aligned with the principles of gender equality.
“The media and digital platforms have a responsibility to contribute to an informed public. The fight against disinformation must be based on facts, respect, and democratic values. During elections, citizens themselves make decisions freely. The SEC does not express these commitments only declaratively, gender perspectives are also integrated into our institutional work. The SEC will host a conference on women’s participation in elections, where we will exchange information with local and international partners and examine current trends. This will be based on evidence. As the SEC, we are preparing an analysis on voter turnout among women and their presence at polling stations. There are places where women did not turn out to vote at all, meaning that 100 percent of the votes came from men,” Shehu said.
As part of the event, a workshop was also held where participants had the opportunity to identify and analyze various harmful anti-gender narratives, as well as to define ways to advocate before public institutions.
