Incels have been one of the more disquieting trends of recent years, with men encouraged to have extremely negative views of women that bleed into physical and emotional abuse. Research from the University of Portsmouth shows that TikTok is a key breeding ground for such behavior.
Recent violent events, like the 2021 Plymouth shooting and the 2020 Toronto machete attack, have raised concerns about Incels, men who can’t find romantic partners. We used to think their violent and anti-women views were limited to niche online groups. But the research has shown that these ideas are spreading to more mainstream places like TikTok.
Disrespecting women
TikTok is a popular app, but it has seen a rise in content that disrespects women and opposes feminism. The researchers decided to investigate Incels on TikTok, specifically looking at two popular Incel accounts. They studied 52 videos and 1,657 comments to learn more about this growing issue on the platform.
“It is a common belief that incels are an underground community, removed from beloved and popular platforms such as TikTok,” the researchers explain. “Our study demonstrates that incel ideology is also present, popularized and thriving on TikTok.”
Suffice it to say, the internet has been used to spread hateful ideologies since its inception. There has been a particular rise in anti-feminist men’s groups in recent years, with the groups promoting misogyny and masculinity as well as opposing feminism. The incels among these groups have often spilled over into violent behavior.
“Incels consider themselves unable to attain romantic relationships due to societal hierarchies based on looks, money and status, where women wield power,” the researchers explain. “They have been linked to gendered hate speech and violence against women, making them an increasing security concern.”
“However, research has often oversimplified incels, overlooking their diversity across different online platforms. Mainstream platforms like TikTok have stricter moderation policies but are not immune to incel influence. This study aims to understand how incels adapt their ideology to mainstream platforms and how they influence and are influenced by mainstream discourse.”
Avoiding detection
The study shows that Incel (involuntary celibate) beliefs are being spread in a subtler way to avoid detection. Instead of using explicit content like in secluded Incel groups, TikTok is seeing a more hidden spread of extremist ideas through emotional appeals and fake science.
On TikTok, Incels are reaching more people by using two strategies:
- Fake Science: They use fake or misunderstood information, often based on ideas from evolutionary psychology and biology, to claim they’re revealing the true nature of women. They make it look scientific to try to convince others.
- Emotional Appeals: Incels reuse popular internet content, like videos and memes, to show unattractive men being mistreated by women. This is meant to make viewers feel sorry for them and see men as victims.
They use language that’s not too obvious to avoid getting banned, but it still promotes harmful beliefs. This shows that content moderation and policies have limitations.
The study also shows that Incel beliefs are connected to broader sexism and mistreatment of women. They reinforce harmful stereotypes about gender and try to justify violence against women. Videos and comments on TikTok also spread false ideas about rape:
- They downplay the importance of getting consent.
- They blame women for being victims of sexual assault and say women use false accusations to harm men.
- They accuse the justice system of being unfair by assuming someone is guilty without proper investigation.
To avoid detection, the research reveals that on TikTok, incel ideology takes a much subtler form, using emotional appeals and pseudo-science to share extremist views. Covert language and terminology are used on TikTok—in contrast to incel content observed on secluded incel spaces.
“These clever subtle approaches aim to resonate with broader audiences, including those who might be unfamiliar with the intricacies of incel ideology. They present a challenge to policymakers and a real danger to women. As TikTok gains popularity, more needs to be done to understand the growing incel activity on the platform.”
