Monetising Misogyny: Engagement Farming and the Tactics Behind Incendiary Online Content

I recently contributed to a new article for the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET) as part of its Gender and Online Violent Extremism series, published in alignment with the UN’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.

The piece examines how misogynistic influencers and online extremist actors exploit commercial digital systems that reward hostility, outrage, and rapid engagement. These dynamics are not incidental. Platform incentives often amplify deliberately incendiary content, creating pathways that can move users from general hostility towards more explicit ideological narratives and, in some cases, violent extremism.

Our analysis focuses on engagement farming and monetisation strategies, exploring how misogyny and violence against women are leveraged to generate visibility, profit, and influence at scale. These practices expose users to increasingly extreme content while obscuring the economic drivers that sustain it.

Understanding these mechanisms is critical for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners working on online safety, extremism, and information risk. Without clearer insight into how commercial incentives intersect with ideological mobilisation, responses will continue to address symptoms rather than underlying structures.

The article, co-authored with Fabio Daniele, Laura Bucher, and Giampaolo Servida, reflects ongoing work to better understand how gendered harms operate within contemporary digital ecosystems.

📄 Read the full article here