The online abuse levelled over the past few weeks involving Algerian Boxer Imane Khelif has been nothing short of disgraceful. A disinformation campaign spread about her gender, led by an official-sounding, but concerning organisation called the IBA (International Boxing Federation) showed just how easily people can be fooled, and how damaging this type of situation can be for female athletes.
Scratch the surface, and it takes under 2 minutes to uncover the murky and questionable ethics of the IBA, yet, thousands of people failed to investigate and jumped quickly on the hate bandwagon, targeting someone who apparently challenged our cultural norms. It is especially bad when it’s a woman.
Disinformation is different to Misinformation. And in 2024, people need to know the difference (hot tip – intention is at the centre):
Misinformation as defined by the National Library of Australia is “false information that is spread, regardless of whether there is intent to mislead.”
Disinformation is “deliberately misleading or biased information; manipulated narrative or facts; propaganda.”
The attack upon Imane was a disinformation tactic, but I loved her calm and focused approach, despite how she would have been feeling inside. To see her win, and return to her country a hero was a moment I won’t forget. Even better, she’s now filed a lawsuit over the alleged cyberbullying and named key figures like Elon Musk and J.K.Rowling…. Watch this space!