Diverting Hate

Diverting Hate is an applied research nonprofit disrupting digital radicalization by steering at-risk men away from harmful misogynistic content toward wellness and community support. They replace exploitative narratives with ones that foster growth, belonging, and safety through strategic digital marketing campaigns. Diverting Hate reaches young men at a critical fork in their online experience, intervening to cultivate healthy masculinity. To date, Diverting Hate has reached 30 million men online, engaged 274,000 through partner offerings, and connected over 1,000 men to mental health support.

The Problem
Social media platforms that rely on explosive narratives for engagement are amplifying the normalization of violence. The angriest voices are the loudest. When social media algorithms amplify misogynistic content, often acting as an entrypoint to darker parts of the internet, the very technology designed for connection causes division. Alarmingly, more than 40% of young men trust one or more misogynistic voices online. Young men are often radicalized through social media’s “manosphere” as a way to prove their masculinity and deal with feelings of “male failure” due to social or economic marginalization.

The Solution
Diverting Hate’s solution is an applied research intervention combining technology, credible voices, and public health principles to replace exploitative narratives with ones that foster growth, belonging, and safety. They operate across two complementary workstreams to shrink the cultural and digital space that enables misogyny:

1) Direct digital marketing campaigns: Diverting Hate runs targeted, paid digital advertisements to redirect users away from extreme content toward healthy alternatives. Leveraging a network of online and offline partners, they create digital campaigns to disseminate culturally relevant, prosocial content in native languages. Their content connects men to direct mental health support, practical ways to build community, and positive online creators.

2) Field research and insights: Diverting Hate uses their unique insights to shape policy and public dialogue, advocating for narrative and structural changes. Their research team uncovers the underlying factors fueling online toxicity, creating a feedback loop on where to target direct interventions (e.g., geographies, demographics, topics).