Canada’s top spy agency is worried about what it calls “extremist influences” supposedly “weaponizing femininity” to spread anti-government and anti-gender ideology narratives through social media.
A recently unveiled report claims that “radical ideologies” are being subtly integrated into social media content, appearing in seemingly innocuous forms such as typical parenting blogs, beauty tutorials, and fitness advice. The report cites anti-COVID narratives, opposition to gender ideology, white supremacy and the “alt-right” as examples.
The report, titled Weaponizing Femininity: Female Influencers’ Use of Social Media to Promote Extremist Narratives, was prepared in August 2023 by Canada’s
Integrated Threat Assessment Centre (ITAC) and was released to Global News via an Access to Information request.
The report argues female influencers increasingly spread extremist views and recruit others by exploiting trust built through “benign narratives” like motherhood, homemaking, and personal wellness, popular with online female demographics.
“These women foster community and create spaces that put followers at ease, thereby normalizing and mainstreaming extremist rhetoric,” the report states.
The report warns that image- and livestream-heavy platforms like TikTok and Instagram are being used to amplify anti-government messages, white supremacist narratives, and xenophobic conspiracies.
Notably, the report largely omits mention of Islamist extremism, despite it being the most recent context in which women have been charged with terrorism in Canada.
Only two women, Rehab Dughmosh and Oumaima Chouay, both Muslim women who joined or supported ISIS, have ever been convicted of terrorism offences.
Another ISIS bride,
Kimberly Polam is currently facing a court case with the B.C. Supreme court.
Polman is a convert to Islam.
Examples cited in the report include fitness videos with anti-COVID lockdown speech, makeup tutorials with anti-woke messaging, and financial advice content critical of mass migration.
The document does not name any influencer but points to online communities connected to the “alt-right and social conservative opposition to gender ideology in children’s schools.”
“Certain bloggers promote xenophobic and anti-2SLGBTQI+ rhetoric under the guise of expressing concern for children’s well-being,” it said.
It concludes that women are “just as present as men” in these online environments, but that policy responses have not adequately punished them for their role as “radicalizers.”
truenorthwire.com
