Can the UK fight ‘extreme misogyny’ as if it were terrorism? I have my doubts | Samira Shackle

Anti-extremism policy has a poor track record over a number of governments. Adding misogyny to the mix won’t change this

When riots broke out in the UK in late July, one of the most prominent voices spreading misinformation was the self-proclaimed misogynist influencer Andrew Tate. The riots came after a horrific knife attack in Southport – and Tate was among those tweeting, falsely, that the attacker was “an illegal immigrant arrived on a boat one month ago”. This is one example of how misogyny intersects with hard-right ideology, and of how the transmission of extremist ideas has changed, with connections forged between different online audiences. People like Tate may build big followings peddling one sort of outrage, misogyny, and then dabble in others to attract new audiences and cross-pollinate ideas – particularly around big events that offer lots of engagement.

The riots demonstrated that the way the hard right organises online is very different now to even seven years ago, when the government last looked at UK counter-extremism strategy. So, it is timely that the new government has commissioned a rapid policy review. Announcing the measure last week the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said it would not only assess the rise of Islamist and hard-right ideologies – the routine focus of counter-extremism strategy – but also other trends, including extreme misogyny.

Samira Shackle is a journalist and regular contributor to the Guardian long read

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