Women candidates faced a barrage of online abuse during the September 23 legislative election campaign, with defamatory remarks, sexist insults and attacks on their personal lives figuring in 628 cases documented by a national watchdog.
Facebook proved to be the main breeding ground for such attacks, accounting for 575 incidents, or 91.6% of the total, according to findings released by the National Observatory for Protection against Digital Violence in Casablanca on Wednesday, October 7.
Much of the abuse played out in comment sections, where offensive and hurtful remarks made up 90.4% of the documented cases. Some candidates were forced to remove abusive comments within hours of discovering them.
Defamation figured in around 76% of the cases, while gender-based humiliation was recorded in 69.4%, showing how attacks on women seeking public office frequently went beyond political criticism.
Nor were the candidates’ private lives spared. Their families, professions and personal circumstances were dragged into the attacks, with some targeted over disabilities and other aspects of their identity.
Bouchra Abdou, a representative of the observatory, said the findings were based on monitoring carried out from September 10 to 23 in cooperation with the Challenge for Equality and Citizenship Association.
The exercise brought together 16 associations and 21 monitors, who tracked online activity involving 42 women heading local electoral lists for 11 political parties and coalitions across 10 regions.
Although the abuse often took a personal turn, the observatory classified 93% of the incidents as primarily political or electoral in nature.
Facebook’s overwhelming share left other platforms far behind. Instagram accounted for 28 cases, with the remaining incidents recorded on TikTok and other platforms.
The monitoring was conducted with reference to Organic Law No. 27.11 governing elections. The study also examined the limits of legal protection available to women candidates facing digital political violence.
For some of those on the receiving end, the abuse did not end with attacks on their political positions. Comments targeting their families and personal circumstances became part of the campaign they had to contend with online.
