Domestic violence service provider Sonas is warning that toxic misogyny spread online through the “manosphere” is increasingly showing up in frontline domestic violence services, with children echoing language and behaviours associated with misogynistic influencers.
Sonas says staff are seeing worrying examples of boys repeating extreme views about women, displaying hostility towards mothers and normalising controlling and degrading behaviour in the home.
In one case, a child supported by Sonas repeatedly called his mother a “dish pig” and threw objects at her when he disliked his dinner. The charity says such incidents reflect a growing concern that online misogynistic content is shaping attitudes towards women among children and young men.
“Violence breeds violence and disrespect breeds disrespect,” said Fiona O’Malley, CEO of Sonas Domestic Violence Charity. “When children grow up in homes affected by domestic abuse, they are already vulnerable to normalising harmful behaviour. But when those messages are reinforced online by misogynistic influencers telling boys that women are inferior, manipulative or deserving of contempt, the consequences can be devastating.
“We are now seeing some children echo language, attitudes and ideas that are strikingly similar to content popularised by figures associated with the manosphere, including Andrew Tate. That should concern every parent, school and policymaker in Ireland.”
Sonas is now calling on Coimisiún na Meán to require social media platforms operating in Ireland to restrict, de-amplify and age-gate misogynistic influencer content that promotes violence, coercive control or hatred of women, naming content associated with figures such as Andrew Tate as a particular concern.
The charity says this would be consistent with Ireland’s existing online safety framework, which already seeks to protect children from harmful content and places obligations on video-sharing platforms to reduce exposure to material that may harm the physical, mental or moral development of children.
Sonas is not calling for a blanket ban on discussion around masculinity or relationships online. Instead, it is calling for targeted safeguards against content that glamorises coercive control, dehumanises women or encourages hostility towards them.
“The manosphere is not just harmless online banter,” said O’Malley. “Much of this content packages misogyny as empowerment and presents controlling, humiliating or degrading women as normal male behaviour. For children and teenagers – particularly those already exposed to violence in the home – these messages can become deeply normalised.
“Algorithms do not simply reflect behaviour; they reinforce it. Once a child engages with this content, platforms continue serving more extreme versions of the same material. We cannot continue treating this as somebody else’s problem when frontline domestic violence services are already seeing the effects.”
Research suggests online platforms increasingly shape boys’ understanding of masculinity, relationships and gender norms. A 2025 survey by Common Sense Media found that ‘94% of boys are online daily through social media or gaming, and 73% are regularly being exposed to content with messages and stereotypes about what it means to “be a man”; Two in three boys aren’t looking for this content – algorithms are driving their exposure to content and influencers who may not always have their best interests in mind; Boys with strong real-world relationships show better self-esteem and are less lonely’.
Under Ireland’s Online Safety Framework, platforms are already required to implement measures to protect children from harmful content, including through age assurance, reporting systems and content moderation measures.
Sonas says these protections should now explicitly include stronger action against misogynistic influencer content that promotes coercive control, hatred of women or degrading gender stereotypes.
“We have spent decades trying to tackle violence against women after the harm occurs,” said O’Malley. “We now need to look seriously at the ecosystem helping to normalise misogyny before it escalates into abuse. No child should grow up believing it is acceptable to humiliate, intimidate or degrade women. If we want to prevent violence against women, we must challenge the messages teaching boys that disrespect is masculinity.”
Sonas is calling on Coimisiún na Meán to examine whether existing online safety powers can be strengthened to require platforms to reduce algorithmic amplification, introduce stronger age-gating and limit children’s exposure to misogynistic influencer content that promotes coercive control, violence towards, or hatred of women.