Laura Bates On Channel 4 News

Writer and activist Laura Bates speaks to Channel 4 News about her investigation into the digital underworld for her latest book, The New Age of Sexism.

Drawing on months of undercover research, Bates exposes how emerging technologies, from AI-generated imagery to algorithmic rabbit holes, are giving new influence to age-old misogyny. She argues that what happens in these online spaces is far from victimless, with real-world consequences for women and girls across society.

Bates also sounds the alarm on a cultural complacency that allows virtual violence against women to be dismissed as harmless or inevitable. As these technologies become ever more sophisticated and accessible, she warns that normalising such content risks reshaping attitudes, particularly among young men and boys, in ways that are deeply troubling and increasingly difficult to reverse.