Lancet experts urge governments to treat the manosphere as a public health issue
Experts writing in the medical journal The Lancet say governments should treat the manosphere and online misogyny as a public health issue, in the same way as obesity or smoking. The report was published on 29 October 2026, and the Guardian reported on it the same day.
The report describes the manosphere as a loosely connected set of online communities and a commercial ecosystem, held together by shared beliefs about masculinity, misogyny and male victimisation. Its authors said the manosphere centres on what they call a crisis of masculinity, and on a conviction that feminism has systematically disadvantaged men. The report also states that the manosphere has grown into a highly lucrative online industry, one that earns money by promoting the most extreme forms of misogyny and aggrieved masculinity.
The authors compared the tactics and the harm caused by manosphere influencers with those of the tobacco and ultra-processed food industries. The Telegraph reported that comparison. Drawing on those precedents, the authors call for a coordinated response that brings in governments, schools, health services and community organisations. They also stress the need to "offer boys something better" as part of tackling the harms.
Prof Kent Buse, a co-author of the report and co-founder of the social justice thinktank Global 50/50, and Prof Sarah Hawkes are among its authors. The report sets out these proposals and does not describe any policy that governments have adopted.
