Gen Z women quit social media in droves over online misogyny linked to Trump
Sixty per cent of Gen Zers believe political leaders, including US President Donald Trump, are fuelling misogynistic and divisive language online.
This "toxic 'bro' culture" is driving young women away from social media platforms, according to a recent Amnesty International UK poll.
The survey, conducted in February among more than 3,000 UK Gen Z members (aged 16-25), highlighted controversial influencer Andrew Tate as the primary driver of online misogyny, according to half of the male respondents.
Among female respondents, 58 per cent pointed to Trump.
Other high-profile culprits named were tech billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk, and Reform UK MP Nigel Farage.
The survey also revealed the mental health impact of such online content. Over a third (37 per cent) of all respondents reported that encountering misogynistic content affected their mental well-being, with women (44 per cent) significantly more likely to experience this than men (28 per cent).
A fifth of Gen Z women reported having left or avoided certain platforms after experiencing online misogynistic behaviour – with 40 per cent of those mentioning X (formerly Twitter), 30 per cent TikTok and 30 per cent Instagram.
The findings come in the same week as former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate said 'callous, manipulative and toxic influencers' are tricking young men into thinking women are against them.
Delivering the 46th Richard Dimbleby Lecture at the University of London, Sir Gareth warned of young men 'withdrawing into the online world, reluctant to talk or express their emotions' as 'real-world communities and mentorship declines'.
He said a 'void' in their search for direction is often now being filled by some influencers who 'willingly trick young men into believing that success is measured by money or dominance'.
The Amnesty polling found young men were less likely than women to think online misogyny reflects real societal attitudes (51 per cent of men compared with 71 per cent of women).
Chiara Capraro, from Amnesty International UK, said: 'This polling paints a deeply troubling picture of the digital world young people are forced to navigate.
'Tech companies continue to prioritise profit over people's safety and the result is a barrage of misogynistic content which deeply affects young people's online experience. A toxic 'bro' culture is driving many young women away from social media altogether.'
She said tech companies must 'step up and take responsibility for the safety of their users', arguing that 'online misogyny does real world harm'.
Meanwhile, the founding president of a US think tank focused on male wellbeing has said he is working towards setting up a similar organisation in the UK.
Richard Reeves, from the American Institute for Boys and Men, is an ex-director of strategy to former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.
Mr Reeves told the Today podcast he is 'working towards a similar institution in the UK'.
The organisation 'conducts non-partisan research on issues that affect the wellbeing of boys and men' in the US 'and designs programmes and policies to help them thrive', according to its website.
A total of 3,024 UK respondents aged 16 to 25 were surveyed by Savanta on behalf of Amnesty International between February 13-19, 2025.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
6 minutes ago
- BBC News
Trump: India 'hopeful' of reaching deal with US before tariff deadline
Delhi is "hopeful" of reaching a trade agreement with the US before the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs ends on 9 July, India's foreign minister has said. In an interview with French daily Le Figaro on Tuesday, S Jaishankar, who is on a four-day visit to Belgium and France, said India and US had already begun trade negotiations before Trump unveiled his 2 April 'Liberation day' tariffs on global partners, including up to 27% on India. "Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi met with Donald Trump in February and they decided to further open access to our respective markets," Jaishankar told the paper."We are hopeful of reaching an agreement before the end of the tariff suspension on 9 July." Earlier in the day, a US delegation held closed-door meetings with Indian trade ministry officials in Delhi. An unnamed Indian official told Reuters news agency that the recent set of trade talks with US officials had been productive and "helped in making progress towards crafting a mutually beneficial and balanced agreement including through achievement of early wins". Until recently, the US was India's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $190bn. India has already reduced tariffs on a range of goods - including Bourbon whiskey and motorcycles - but the US continues to run a $45bn (£33bn) trade deficit with India, which Trump is keen to and Modi have set a target to more than double this figure to $500bn, though Delhi is unlikely to offer concessions in politically sensitive sectors such as agriculture. Earlier this month, the White House told its trade partners that the US wants them to make their best trade offers, with the deadline fast approaching, Reuters news agency reported. Last week, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said he was "very optimistic" about a deal between India and US, which he said said would come in the "not too distant future".In May, Trump made global headlines by claiming that Delhi had offered to drop all tariffs on goods imported from the US. These claims were swiftly disputed by India, with the foreign minister saying that "nothing is decided till everything is".Jaishankar had previously emphasised that any trade deal must be mutually beneficial and work for both separately about US foreign policy under Trump, Jaishankar told Le Figaro he sees the US "looking at things from the perspective of its immediate interest and seeking benefits for itself"."Frankly, I will do the same with them," Jaishankar added. Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
Daily Mail
12 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Labour splashes the cash… but who's going to pick up the bill? Brits warned of looming tax hikes as Rachel Reeves lays out 'unrealistic' spending plans TODAY
Rachel Reeves will splash the cash today as fears mount that Brits will need to pick up the bill later. The Cabinet is set to sign off the spending review before the Chancellor announces the details in the Commons at lunchtime. She will allocate huge sums to departments for the coming years, after loosening the government's borrowing rules at the last Budget. But although Ms Reeves will boast that her new approach means Labour can spend a staggering £300billion more over the next five years than the Tories planned, critics have warned she does not know where the money is coming from. The generous fiscal envelope set last Autumn has been put under massive pressure by the economy slowing down and Donald Trump 's trade war. There are demands to pump far more cash into defence, while Ms Reeves has already made an humiliating U-turn on winter fuel allowance cuts and is facing a Labour revolts on other benefits curbs. That has led analysts and political rivals to argue that more tax increases are 'inevitable' - although the funding gap will not crystalise until the next fiscal package. The tax rises in the Budget last year were the biggest on record for a single fiscal event. Public sector productivity has been making almost no progress despite investment The backdrop to the decisions has been looking increasingly grim, with Labour trailing Reform in the polls. Figures yesterday showed unemployment rising, and a survey found just 12 per cent of Brits believe Ms Reeves is doing a good job. Ministers have described the spending plans – equal to an extra £8,100 for every taxpayer in Britain – as 'the end of austerity'. In her announcement later, Ms Reeves will admit voters do not feel like they have more money in their pockets as Labour prepares to mark one year in office. But she will insisting she is 'renewing Britain'. 'This Government's task – my task – and the purpose of this spending review is to change that, to ensure that renewal is felt in people's everyday lives, their jobs, their communities,' she will say. Last week, Ms Reeves refused to rule out any further tax increases. Spending will be skewed heavily towards the NHS in an attempt to cut waiting lists further. Defence is set to be another big winner after Sir Keir Starmer committed to spending 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027. Allies of Angela Rayner were last night claiming victory in her bid to secure more cash towards meeting Labour's target of building 1.5 million new homes by the next election. The Deputy PM, who is responsible for housing policy, had a series of bust-ups with Treasury ministers and No 10 over the issue. The Treasury had proposed a modest increase in the social housing budget from £2.3 billion a year to £2.5 billion. But government sources last night said Ms Rayner had secured a £39 billion settlement over ten years. The Treasury said it was the biggest boost to social housing in a generation. But the growing cost of servicing the UK's debt mountain means other areas of spending, including the police, face a budget squeeze in future years. The Tories branded Ms Reeves the 'Spend Today, Tax Tomorrow Chancellor'. Shadow chancellor Mel Stride said: 'Labour is spending money it doesn't have, with no credible plan to pay for it. 'That means more borrowing, more debt, and, inevitably, more tax rises in the Autumn Budget. Don't be fooled. We can't afford Labour.' In recent days, the Chancellor and Prime Minister have repeatedly claimed that Labour has 'fixed the foundations' of the economy, despite rising inflation and cuts to official growth forecasts. Yesterday's stark employment figures underline the real-world impact of Labour's tax and spend approach. They revealed UK payroll numbers have shrunk by 276,000 over the past seven months. In May alone, payrolls fell by 109,000 – the worst month since the pandemic. Meanwhile the unemployment rate has climbed to 4.6 per cent, the highest in nearly four years. Experts pinned the blame on Ms Reeves's £25 billion raid on employer National Insurance, which was announced in the October Budget and took effect in April. Payroll numbers fell every month since the Budget.
Reuters
13 minutes ago
- Reuters
US cities brace for more protests as parts of Los Angeles placed under curfew
LOS ANGELES, June 11 (Reuters) - Several U.S. cities braced for protests on Wednesday against President Donald Trump's sweeping immigration raids, as parts of the country's second largest city Los Angeles spent the night under curfew in an effort to quell five days of unrest. The Governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott, said he will deploy the National Guard this week, ahead of planned protests. Protesters and police in Austin clashed on Monday. Trump's extraordinary measures of sending National Guard and Marines to quell protests in Los Angeles has sparked a national debate on the use of military on U.S. soil and pitted the Republican president against California's Democrat governor. "This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers and even our National Guard at risk. That's when the downward spiral began," California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a video address on Tuesday. "He again chose escalation. He chose more force. He chose theatrics over public safety. ... Democracy is under assault." Newsom, widely seen as preparing for a presidential run in 2028, and the state of California sued Trump and the Defense Department on Monday, seeking to block the deployment of federal troops. Trump in turn has suggested Newsom should be arrested. Hundreds of U.S. Marines arrived in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday under orders from Trump, after he also ordered the deployment of 4,000 National Guard to the city. Marines and National Guard are to be used in the protection of government personnel and buildings and not in police action. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the deployments were not necessary as police could manage the protest, the majority of which have been peaceful, and limited to about five streets. However, due to looting and violence at night she imposed a curfew over one square mile of the city's downtown, starting Tuesday night. The curfew will last several days. Police said multiple groups stayed on the streets in some areas despite the curfew and "mass arrests" were initiated. Police earlier said that 197 people had already been arrested on Tuesday - more than double the total number of arrests to date. Democratic leaders have raised concerns over a national crisis in what has become the most intense flashpoint yet in the Trump administration's efforts to deport migrants living in the country illegally, and then crack down on opponents who take to the streets in protest. Trump, voted back into office last year largely for his promise to deport undocumented immigrants, used a speech honoring soldiers on Tuesday to defend his decision. He told troops at the army base in Fort Bragg, North Carolina: "Generations of army heroes did not shed their blood on distant shores only to watch our country be destroyed by invasion and third-world lawlessness." "What you're witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order and on national sovereignty, carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags," Trump said, adding his administration would "liberate Los Angeles." Demonstrators have waved the flags of Mexico and other countries in solidarity for the migrants rounded up in a series of intensifying raids. Homeland Security said on Monday its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division had arrested 2,000 immigration offenders per day recently, far above the 311 daily average in fiscal year 2024 under former President Joe Biden. Protests have also taken place in other cities including New York, Atlanta and Chicago, where demonstrators shouted at and scuffled with officers. Some protesters climbed onto the Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza, while others chanted that ICE should be abolished. Texas Governor Abbott said late on Tuesday that he will deploy the National Guard, which "will use every tool & strategy to help law enforcement maintain order." "Texas National Guard will be deployed to locations across the state to ensure peace & order. Peaceful protest is legal. Harming a person or property is illegal & will lead to arrest," Abbott posted on X. South Texas organizations are expected to hold anti-ICE rallies on Wednesday and Saturday, CNN reported local media as saying. About 700 Marines were in a staging area in the Seal Beach area about 30 miles (50 km) south of Los Angeles on Tuesday, awaiting deployment to specific locations, a U.S. official said. California Attorney General Rob Bonta told Reuters the state was concerned about allowing federal troops to protect personnel, saying there was a risk that could violate an 1878 law that generally forbids the U.S. military, including the National Guard, from taking part in civilian law enforcement. "Protecting personnel likely means accompanying ICE agents into communities and neighborhoods, and protecting functions could mean protecting the ICE function of enforcing the immigration law," Bonta said. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday posted photos on X of National Guard troops accompanying ICE officers on an immigration raid. Trump administration officials have vowed to redouble the immigration raids in response to the street protests. The last time the military was used for direct police action under the Insurrection Act was in 1992, when the California governor at the time asked President George H.W. Bush to help respond to Los Angeles riots over the acquittal of police officers who beat Black motorist Rodney King.
