Identity-Based Disinformation: Gender as a Differentiating Category for Political Disinformation. A Comparative Analysis of Narratives Concerning Female and Male Politicians of the New Left

Abstract

Identity-based disinformation is an increasingly recognizable tool of socio-political influence, exploiting existing prejudices, stereotypes, and social divisions to increase the reach and effectiveness of the message (Wardle, Derakhshan, 2017; Rossini et al., 2021). One of the key axes of this strategy is gender, which, in the context of politically active women, becomes the subject of deliberate disinformation campaigns aimed at delegitimizing their competence, undermining their authority, and perpetuating traditional gender norms (Krook, Restrepo Sanín, 2020).
This article aims to analyze disinformation narratives concerning New Left female politicians sitting in the Polish Sejm and Senate in the period January–June 2025. The study is based on a qualitative analysis of content from platform X (formerly Twitter), using tools for mapping narratives and detecting discrediting motifs. Particular attention was paid to how female politicians were portrayed through the prism of gender stereotypes, their private lives, and social roles.