Inside the Muslim Manosphere Policing Women Online

Online spaces increasingly enforce religious and moral codes on women, turning public platforms into sites of harassment.

Miriam, an administrator of an online group for women, has faced significant online harassment, including unsolicited advice on modesty and sexual advances. This harassment stems from a segment of the "Muslim manosphere," which blends antifeminist ideology with religious rhetoric. Influencers like Jordan-based relationship coach Kareem Atta’i and UK-based Ali Dawah repackage manosphere tenets into "relationship advice" and religious commentary, often framing interactions as power struggles and advocating for women's "discipline." These "Dawah Bros" adapt broader manosphere ideas to local anxieties about religion, masculinity, and social change, using misogyny to explain widespread frustration. Their content, amplified by platform algorithms, spills from podcasts and debate videos into comment sections and private messages, targeting prominent women. Research indicates that a vast majority of hate speech, harassment, and abusive comments on platforms like Instagram in Jordan are directed at women, with a significant portion being religious or moral harassment and all sexual harassment targeting females.

The Muslim manosphere leverages religious language to rebrand existing antifeminist and male grievance ideologies, adapting them to local cultural anxieties. This fusion allows influencers to present misogynistic views as divinely sanctioned advice, making criticism appear heretical and bolstering their authority within religious-adjacent communities. The tactics employed by figures like Kareem Atta’i and Ali Dawah, which include framing gender relations as power contests and advocating for controlling women's behavior, represent a significant adaptation of wider manosphere strategies to a religious context.

Platform algorithms amplify emotionally charged content from the manosphere, increasing the visibility of videos that blame women for societal problems and generating engagement through backlash. This dynamic, coupled with influencers blurring personal opinions with religious instruction, turns user interactions into a form of automated online policing. The pervasive harassment of women, particularly female influencers, on platforms like Instagram underscores how these technologically amplified ideologies directly impact women's online presence and well-being, often under the guise of moral or religious guidance.