The UN Women Campaign Combatting The Manosphere

Parents are beginning to wake up to the potential harm that allowing their children unfiltered access to social media can have on them.

With the success of ‘Adolescence’ on Netflix through reaching a global audience, discussion around the impact the ‘Manosphere’ is having upon young boys has intensified. So much so that there are now serious conversations being held by the UK government around introducing a potential ban on under 16s having access to social media entirely.

The Manosphere is the name given to the network of online communities and influencers that promote restrictive and often hostile ideas about gender, relationships and the role of boys and men in society.

But work to raise awareness of the misogyny and anti-feminism reaching boys through social content has been ongoing for much longer and is being led by UN Women and supported by Vodafone Foundation who recently launched the ‘Same Side’ campaign.

Developed by Revolt, the work aims to counter the impact such content is having on young men in developing misogynistic and harmful attitudes about both men and women.

Among the activity, sports stars such as former England rugby star Ugo Monye, Tottenham Hotspur midfielder James Maddison, and former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha were enlisted to provide young men with an inspiring alternative to the manosphere.

“Digital spaces shape how the next generation sees themselves and each other. We’re committed to leveraging technology to tackle harm and abuse and that’s why Vodafone Foundation are proud to back Same Side, using the reach of sport and the power of technology to amplify positive voices,” explains Lisa Felton, managing director of Vodafone Foundation.

Discussing the development of the agency’s work for UN Women to support the campaign is Revolt’s creative director Paul Calway.

Creative Salon: Can you talk about the brief and how you came up with it, and the guide and video?

Paul Calway: UN Women UK asked us to help launch a new guide for parents and carers about talking to kids around the Manosphere.

At the start of the project, I thought I knew the Manosphere was - I’ve seen Adolescence – but I soon realised something unsettling: I actually knew nothing about it. So I went looking. I searched as a parent of a young boy… and found nothing. It was like the Manosphere didn’t exist. But that wasn’t the experience of my younger male colleagues. For them, this content wasn’t hidden at all. It was already in their feeds, finding them without being asked for.

That gap became the insight behind Algorithm Swap: a simple way for parents to temporarily step into the algorithm of a young boy and see what surfaces. Not because parents are doing anything wrong, but because platforms are quietly shaping what kids are exposed to.

We kept coming back to a very simple truth: if you asked most parents, “Would you want to see what your son’s social feed actually looks like?” almost everyone would say yes. There’s a real fear of not knowing – and Algorithm Swap gives parents a safe way to see what might otherwise stay invisible.

The work is designed to create that moment of realisation, then point people to the guide. The guide is there to help parents feel less overwhelmed: you don’t need to be an expert; you just need to start the conversation.

Why use actors to flip the algorithm and re-enact these events is so powerful?

We wanted parents to experience what young boys are seeing, but without amplifying real manosphere influencers.

So instead, we studied the patterns: the language, the hooks, the common narratives. Then we had actors recreate those messages in a way that mirrors how this content actually shows up in feeds.

That gave us creative control while still being emotionally truthful. It lets parents feel the experience the Manosphere without giving harmful voices more reach.

Why has the manosphere become such an important topic in recent years, and what is UN Women UK doing?

A lot of young men are looking for answers about identity, confidence, and what it means to be a man - and they’re doing that online more than any generation before. Secondary school–aged boys are spending huge portions of their lives on the internet, and Manosphere creators are meeting them right there.

What makes this particularly dangerous is that much of it is algorithm-driven. You don’t have to find it, it finds you – 59 per cent of young men see Manosphere content without searching for it. But the algorithm works both ways – the same way the Manosphere targets young boys with pinpoint accuracy, we can do the same with the parents.

UN Women UK is stepping in at a crucial point: helping parents and carers understand what’s happening, what to look out for, and how to respond without shaming or alienating their kids.

This guide is about early intervention - spotting red flags, building media literacy, and creating space for open conversations. Longer term, it’s about making sure young men have healthier role models and better answers to the questions they’re already asking.

This isn’t something that gets solved overnight, but this is an important first step. Watch this space for more work soon.

The campaign will release new content released throughout the year using #SameSide to tell new stories and conversations that celebrate what being a man can mean and to promote 'The Same Side Conversation Guide'. That is a free practical online resource for parents and caregivers to help families navigate the online world that their sons are growing up in.

How does the guide supplement the work?

Simply put: the film creates urgency. The guide creates confidence.

Simply put: the Algorithm Swap creates urgency by showing parents what’s going on and the guide gives them the confidence and practical tools to respond.

Is this supported by any local activations?

This campaign is the first launch under UN Women UK’s new Same Side platform - an ongoing commitment to tackling the Manosphere to ensure a safer world for everyone, including women and girls.

This is the starting point, not a one-off.

What do you hope parents feel or do differently after seeing the work?

I hope parents stop seeing the manosphere as some extreme, underground corner of the internet their kids would never come across. The reality is it’s increasingly mainstream - often wrapped up in content about confidence, fitness or everyday struggles young men face, before sliding into more harmful narratives.

That’s why we highlighted the stat that nearly 60 per cent of young men encounter this content without searching for it. My hope is that parents don’t assume their child is immune but instead feel empowered to start conversations earlier - because awareness is the first step, and you don’t need all the answers to begin.

Credits:

Agency:

ECD: Orlando Warner

CD: Paul Calway

Creatives: Max Knutssøn & Alice Dowdall

Head of client services: Jenny Spindler

Strategy Director: Rob Sellers

Design Director: Shahina Ahmed

Senior Designer: Jack Jones

Production Company:

Sassy Plus

Director: Adam Morley

Producer: Adam Morley

Editor: Rob Brandon

Client:

UN Women UK

Tabitha Morton

Pip Christie

Michele Oliver

This was written by the creative director behind the work, Paul Calway.