Communication and recruitment methods of anti-LGBTIQA+ influencers and hate groups

The communication and recruitment methods of anti-LGBTIQA+ influencers and hate groups that endorse anti-LGBTIQA+ hate crimes, including those creating and sharing online content steeped in racism, misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, far-right ideology and unhealthy masculinities.  

Hate crimes against LGBTIQA+ people and communities represent deeper cultural issues which have occurred over history stemming from hetero and cisnormativity and a desire to enforce traditional gender norms. The recent increase in hate crimes against gay and bisexual men in Victoria facilitated via dating apps should not be considered as episodic or fringe but a reflection of growing backlash to the progress LGBTQIA+ communities have gained, and a rise of conservative and regressive gender norms proliferated by anti-LGBTIQA+ online influencers and hate groups.  

Rise of misogyny online

In Australia and internationally, there is a concerning increase in and convergence of misogyny, anti-feminism, homophobia, transphobia and far-right mobilisation, particularly in online spaces where misogyny, racism and anti-LGBTIQA+ narratives intersect and amplify each other. Misogynistic content has grown across social media platforms, forming a significant component of the ‘manosphere’, a network of online communities that promote anti-feminism, misogyny, and hatred of trans and non-binary people. Those in the manosphere present unhealthy representations of masculinity, where power and dominance are key (7).  

Content that is created and shared reinforces rigid ideas about how men and boys “should” behave and what they should believe. Such stereotypes are identified in Change the Story as one of the key drivers of violence against women, as well as other forms of gendered violence. Research demonstrates that compulsory heteronormativity and transphobic attitudes are central to these reductive and unhealthy ideas of masculinity, including an imperative to ‘police’ other men’s conformities with rigid gender norms (20). Further, adherence to these restrictive and exclusionary ideas about masculinity are key tenets of other hate-based and far-right extremist groups and movements with links to homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, white supremacy and nationalism (8).  

Popularity and recruitment methods

Online influencers use recruitment strategies that are specifically created to appeal to young boys. Manosphere content is often presented as entertainment through humorous forms such as memes, parodies or motivational content, an approach that masks and normalises hateful and violent misogynistic ideologies (7).  

Manosphere content can also address and amplify disenfranchisement, anxieties and insecurities including body image, dating and mental health. These anxieties are presented as the fault of feminism and ‘the woke agenda’, obfuscating the role of harmful masculinities in creating these worries and offering a lens through which to understand these difficult experiences alongside more extremist and harmful content and ideas.  

The role of algorithms  

While these forms of online misogyny are emblematic of a wider cultural problem, it is exacerbated by social media algorithms that amplify anti-LGBTIQA+ beliefs and content to increasingly broader parts of the population, driving increasing radicalisation pathways (7). Research shows that algorithms on YouTube and TikTok actively push misogynistic, manosphere and violent content onto young male users, sometimes in violation of their own policies (7, 11, 12).  

Respect Victoria and Body Safety Australia’s 2025 exploratory study, ‘Your image belongs to you’: Young  people, social media and image autonomy considers in what ways might social media algorithms be understood as a contributing factor to gendered violence. The report outlines:  

‘Research suggests that while algorithms may appear to be neutral technologies driven by user-generated data, they are created by individuals and companies who hold their own biases, and prejudices, and they have been found to be trained on sexist and racially biased data (9, 10). Studies have included the creation of dummy social media accounts set up as male users of different ages to examine how quickly different types of content are pushed to children and young people. Results consistently found that all male accounts were fed ‘manfluencer’, anti-feminist and other extremist content regardless of whether users sought it out (7, 11, 12), sometimes within two minutes of viewing.’

The findings of this research suggests that:  

‘Young people can overestimate the level of control over algorithms and what content is served to them on social media platforms. This belief that they curate their own online experience can mean that young people, especially boys, feel guilt or shame for being served harmful content and may therefore be less likely to seek help or invite conversations that allow them to unpack, challenge or resist the harmful content they are being fed. These dynamics highlight the need for digital literacy programs to take on a more comprehensive approach to teaching young people about algorithms and critique online content.’

While this content is created and shared online through social media platforms, young people do not often draw a distinction between online content and offline behaviours or attitudes (13). A UK survey found that children exposed to misogynistic content online were five times more likely to see physically hurting another person as acceptable (14). Other research suggests young men who are exposed to the manosphere content are more likely to display increased misogynistic attitudes (13).  

Harmful business models

The manosphere is not only an online community, it is also a profitable, income generator for influencers and social media companies. Controversial and extreme opinions are particularly likely to receive attention, leading to greater engagement that can then push more the availability of increasingly radicalised content.  

Manfluencers, self-styled gurus and ideological entrepreneurs operate within a digital attention economy that converts human insecurity into capital (15).

These influencers maintain and grow their audiences by tapping into young boys’ insecurities, encouraging them to keep watching or buy their products or subscriptions to be a ‘better man’.  

Social media companies are also working within an income-generating model, designed to keep users on their platforms to view advertisements. The model is designed to serve viewers relevant content to match their interests, producing echo chambers where the same voices and ideas are pushed and reinforced (16).  

There is an onus on governments to ensure that tech companies, digital platforms and anti-LGBTIQA+ influencers cannot profit off harm that is directed at women, and more broadly at LGBTQIA+ communities.  

Supporting and disseminating existing research and emerging good practice evidence that enables safety is key to supporting tech companies, digital platforms, governments and the community to effectively understand and address these issues.