Online Equality Watch

The Online Equality Watch (OEW) is a groundbreaking coalition led by the American Sunlight Project in partnership with Equality Now, Moonshot, the Center for Countering Digital Hate, Brightlines, Missing Perspectives, Check My Ads, Vital Voices, Pirth.org, Her Bold Move, MyOwn Image, UltraViolet, and WITNESS. Our mission: to combat technology-facilitated gender-based violence and disinformation against women in politics.

Standing Against Gendered Disinformation and Abuse

Gendered and identity-based violence online has become a pervasive threat, discouraging women from seeking public office and silencing diverse voices in political life. The OEW is committed to documenting, understanding, and mitigating these attacks to ensure a more equitable, inclusive future for all.

Our Focus

The OEW coalition is dedicated to:

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Tracking gender-based disinformation and abuse: We are actively cataloging instances of online violence aimed at women in politics and public life to underscore that this is an issue that affects women up and down the ballot, across borders, and across party lines.

Raising awareness: Through research, educational initiatives, and public engagement, we aim to expose the harm of gender- and identity-based attacks and their impact on women’s participation in public life.

Advocating for change: We encourage lawmakers, political leaders, and the public to take a stand and reject misogyny in politics, working toward equal representation for all.

OEW launched in August 2024; read the press release marking the launch here.

The coalition releases a biweekly media brief; subscribe here and read previous issues below:

December 11, 2024

October 30, 2024

October 16, 2024

October 2, 2024

September 18, 2024

September 4, 2024

August 21, 2024