EU Tightens Laws On Online Abuse And Cyber Violence Against Women

The European Union is intensifying its response to digital violence against women, pairing new legislation with political action and high-level debate, as highlighted during a conference for International Women's Day titled, “Women’s Rights and Democracy: Combating Stereotypes, Disinformation, and Violence in the Digital Age,”.

With online abuse, from harassment to AI-generated deepfakes, on the rise, EU institutions are pushing forward measures such as a directive on combating violence against women, due by 2027, and the Digital Services Act, which obliges major platforms to remove harmful content.

Lawmakers also stress the need to safeguard women’s participation in public life, tightening rules to tackle hate speech and harassment within political spaces.

The seminar brought together a wide range of voices, including MEPs Lina Gálvez, Sirpa Pietikäinen and Alexandra Geese, alongside experts and practitioners such as Asha Allen, Carlos Farinha, Imane Raissali, Alejandra Mariscal, Martyna Wyrzykowska and journalist Ingrid Brodnig.

Together, they warned that cyberviolence is increasingly being used to silence women and undermine democracy. The EU’s response, they argued, must remain both legislative and cultural, targeting not only perpetrators but the systems that enable abuse to spread.

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