Online spaces, and social media in particular, are forums for vigorous political debate. They provide a space for members of the public to express political opinions, organise, and sometimes even interact directly with politicians. While they clearly have democratising potential, these platforms have also become fertile ground for hate speech, toxic interactions and online violence.

By analysing over 3.2 million responses on X (formerly Twitter) to 88 candidates for the 2024 European Parliament elections, our team at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre have found significant differences in how women and men in politics get treated online.

Applying a toxicity detection algorithm called Perspective API, we studied both the volume and types of “toxic” replies received by different candidates. The algorithm’s toxicity score ranges from zero to one. It estimates the likelihood that a reader would perceive text as toxic, and defines toxicity as “a rude, disrespectful, or unreasonable comment that is likely to make you leave a discussion”.

Almost 80% of the candidates studied, who were from France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, received toxic replies, but the raw numbers showed a real and measurable gender gap: women candidates received more toxic replies in absolute terms than their male counterparts.

However, accounting for differences in the overall number of replies for each post, the gender difference in the proportion of toxic replies was no longer statistically significant. Women posted less than men and yet were addressed more. In other words, their accounts attracted........

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