Digital honor policing: online misogyny and patriarchal surveillance in telegram channel “B”

Abstract

This research investigates the emergence and dynamics of Telegram Channel “B,” a digital manosphere targeting women in the Pamiri region and its diaspora. Making use of digital ethnography, linguistic analysis, and expert interviews, the study explores how this space functions as a mechanism for gender regulation during periods of socio-political crisis. The research was guided by the hypothesis that digital misogyny in this context is a reactionary response to heightened instability and the expansion of female autonomy. The findings confirm this hypothesis, demonstrating that the 2022 regional instability acted as a catalyst for "scapegoating" women to reclaim a sense of collective masculine identity. By defining "ideal" versus "deviant" femininity and using AI-generated images, male participants perform hegemonic masculinity to mitigate perceived threats to their traditional authority. The study reveals that women in international marriages are specifically targeted as symbolic betrayers of the nation. Ultimately, the research concludes that Channel “B” is not merely an online community but a tool of patriarchal control that silences women’s voices and undermines international human rights standards and sustainable development. This study contributes to feminist scholarship by illustrating how digital misogyny serves as a compensatory mechanism for men navigating a "crisis of hegemonic masculinity" in high-instability, non-Western contexts.