Should Nations Withhold Dues When UN Bureaucrats Engage in Overt Disinformation?

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Contact: Henry Herrera

Telephone: +1-301-801-0608

Should Nations Withhold Dues When UN Bureaucrats Engage in Overt Disinformation?

February 24, 2026 – Lisa Roberts appeared in Crown Court this past Friday, accused of stalking her ex-boyfriend and bombarding him with email messages. The woman also is accused of posting an intimate video of her ex online. Her trial is scheduled for March (1).

Lisa Roberts’ case underscores the well-documented fact that partner abuse and harassment are equal opportunity problems affecting similar numbers of men and women around the world (2).

In 2014, for example, the Pew Research Center reported that 38% of American men had been targets of online harassment, compared to 32% of women. In Australia, a 2015 study found identical percentages – 60% — of men and women had been harassed online.

Last week the Nuzzo Letter compiled the findings of seven studies of online harassment. The results were impressively similar. Two surveys reported identical percentages of male and female victims, and five of the surveys documented slightly higher levels of male victimization, None of the studies reported women were more likely to be harassed (3).

On November 25, UN Women launched a new campaign, UNiTE to End Digital Violence against All Women and Girls (4). The campaign continued for over two months.

Blithely ignoring the research, the string of Twitter posts made claims such as, “learn how to recognize online abuse, protect yourself, and support others…#ForAllWomenAndGirls.” The posts featured the images of women, targets of online harassment (5).

Promoted by over 10 UN agencies and programs such as UNICEF, the campaign was one of the most extensive and aggressive social media campaigns ever conducted by the United Nations.

Unfortunately, not a single Twitter post during the two-month campaign cited the fact that men are equally likely to be targeted by online harassment. As such, the campaign represented a glaring example of online disinformation.

The United Nations has taken a high-profile stance against disinformation (6). One recent UN report referred to disinformation and hate speech as “weapons of war.” (7)

In response, the Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance issued two press releases objecting to the UN’s dishonest campaign:

December 1: UN Launches ‘Online Violence’ Campaign to Smear Men and Frighten Women (8)
December 8: ‘Online Violence’ Campaign Reveals Rampant Dishonesty at United Nations (9)

Both releases were widely distributed to UN officials and to country lawmakers, and urged persons to express their concerns directly to UN Women.

But the campaign, which promoted untruthful and hateful stereotypes of men, continued unabated.

Now, the United Nations faces an “imminent financial collapse,” as Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently revealed (10).

When UN agencies repeatedly ignore the science and engage in ideologically motivated efforts that negatively stereotype half the world’s population, and when these agencies ignore repeated efforts to correct the bias, something is seriously wrong.

Perhaps UN member-nations should withhold their dues payments until the United Nations reforms itself.

The Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance – DAVIA — unites 228 member organizations from 42 countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. DAVIA seeks to ensure that domestic violence and abuse policies are science-based, family-affirming, and gender-inclusive. https://endtodv.org/davia/

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