The men’s rights movement in India is driving hate against women, fueling online bullying and intimidation tactics. 

In an interview with article 14, University of Michigan associate professor Joyojeet Pal, an expert on the role of technology in democracy and labor, talks about the consequences of Men’s Rights Activists (MRA) movements and how people can fight back.  

Pal says the best way to counter misogynistic content  “is for more men to come out and support feminist causes, and counter or engage their contacts who promote MRA content.”

“It is also incumbent upon more influencers, politicians, and average citizens on social media to call out bad behavior instead of assuming it will lead to trolling,” Pal says. 

The interview cites a study published by Pal, Sheyril Agarwal, an undergraduate student in India and   Urvashi Patel, an independent data scientist. It examines how the men’s rights movement is navigating online spaces. 

“The men’s rights movement has existed in its non-online avatar for a while, but social media, and especially the #MeToo movement created a new impetus for the community to come together, and a means for it to put forth its positions in new ways,” the researchers write. 

RELATED: 

Read “Men’s Rights Activism In India Is Evolving, Intersecting With Right Wing Campaign” on article 14.

Read the paper “The Indian Anti-feminist movement on Twitter.” 

Learn more about associate professor of information Joyojeet Pal by visiting his UMSI faculty profile.

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Noor Hindi

Public Relations Specialist

[email protected]