As social media grows in Kenya, so does the disturbing and toxic ‘manosphere’

The manosphere includes ideas that it is men, not women, who are now disadvantaged by gender politics and need to reclaim power. Photograph: Salim Hanzaz/Getty Images/iStockphoto

It was not so much a rabbit hole I found myself down, but in a whole warren of sexist content when I began researching a story on Kenya’s “manosphere” – a loosely connected network of websites and social media platforms that promote misogyny online.

What I saw was disturbing: scores of tweets, posts and video content that denigrated, objectified and “slut-shamed” women, or encouraged men to exercise coercive control.