Building Resilience Following Targeted Disinformation Campaigns: Evidence from Womxn Identified Political Candidates of Color during and after the 2020 Election Cycle

Background: As more women identified people have sought political representation by running for elected office, there have been demonstrated increases in targeted campaigns (coordinated and not) aimed at deterring the exercise of their civic participation in electoral politics. Some scholars have used the term “gendered disinformation” to describe this phenomenon. The current paper is based on a larger study examining disinformation in an election setting in efforts to contribute meaningfully to the field of research which identifies gendered disinformation as a tool to undermine the political efficacy of women The current paper aims to offer a piece of that larger study: the self-reported resiliency strategies 13 candidates and 7 of their staffers concerning their experiences navigating online harassment (N=20) during their campaigns.

Methods: The current study employed a snowball sampling technique begun by recruiting individuals known to self-identify with the eligibility criteria: 1. Self-identified as a womxn of color (WOC) who ran for political office (at any level) during the 2020 general election cycle, OR 2. Was a campaign staffer for a WOC who ran for political office during the 2020 election cycle; AND 3. Used social media for campaigning during the 2020 election cycle. Thematic content analysis was employed in its realist vein, using the method to identify the experiences, meanings, and realities of study participants, clearly indicating where the researchers have chosen to interpret meaning and where participants have provided meaning. Results presented are a partial answer to the research question: What are the perceptions, perceived impacts, and experiences of gendered disinformation among political candidates (and their staffers) who identified as women of color in the 2020 US election and their staffers?

Results: Results suggest that the process by which study participants developed resilience in response to online harassment mirrors, in important ways, the process of identifying, leaving, and processing an abusive relationship. Specifically, we find that study participants reported resisting future incidence of abuse by developing strategies like delegating social media tasks; regaining control of their emotional and psychological states by focusing on what they could control regarding abusive content; and finally, shifting once more toward a positive frame when considering their success despite of the harassment. The protective factors and processes that were shared through the various shifts helped illustrate pathways for resilience to better reflect the context-dependent and dynamic nature of the resilience process.

Implications:. Social support, both personal and institutional, was identified as an important external pathway for many womxn in the study. These shifts and pathways may also extend to women politicians who have experienced harassment and violence online as ways that may help them cope and heal from the personal attacks.