Content Warning: This report contains examples of harmful, offensive, and discriminatory language
collected for research and documentation purposes. Such content is presented solely to illustrate
patterns of online abuse and should not be understood as an endorsement of the views expressed.
Narrative 1: Morality and social harm
This narrative was operationalised through several distinct but mutually reinforcing tactics.
Tactic: content recycling
A viral TikTok clip (Figure 4A) was repeatedly reposted to accuse the women candidates in Iraq of
“selling their honour” to win the elections. The original video was a legitimate campaign live
broadcast, but attackers clipped a short segment and circulated it rapidly across TikTok shares with
accusation-based framing to provoke outrage and normalize moral harassment. This tactic shifted
public focus from political programmes to honour-based judgment, fuelling cyberbullying and
discouraging women’s participation in political leadership.29
Figure 4A: Viral TikTok clip repurposed to accuse women candidates of moral misconduct and incite online harassment
A page on Instagram (Figure 4B) used old videos of women candidates taken from normal social
settings to publicly shame them. One example was an old video of a woman candidate, Noor Riyadh,
at a public swimming pool that was reposted with a caption implying “this is the morals of the
candidate”.30 The video had no connection to her political work but was reposted to provoke judgment
and reinforce gender stereotypes. By taking personal footage out of context and attaching a moral
message, the page encouraged viewers to question her integrity and suitability for public office on
grounds unrelated to her campaign.
29
vz_s14. (2025, October 18). Main tactics and trends [TikTok post]. TikTok. https://perma.cc/7DTD-396X
30
ىط*ي
من ي. (2025, August 25). Main tactics and trends [Instagram post]. Instagram. https://perma.cc/V4XD6EBZ
34