A new report shows how much of the online “manosphere” runs as a business, earning money from young men’s loneliness and casting women as the problem. Consumer law, platform rules and programmes that involve men in care already offer ways to respond.
Much of the money in online content aimed at young men moves along a chain. A creator builds an audience with free videos and livestreams. Income then comes from courses, sponsorships, speaking fees and paid memberships. The platform hosting the videos keeps a share of the advertising revenue.
Reset Tech and Equimundo traced that chain in The Grift Economy, published in August. They call it “a multi-billion-dollar industry built on the loneliness, economic anxiety, and identity of men.” For women, its findings on how the content portrays them are the most relevant.
Where the money goes
Top-tier creators earn an estimated US$1m to US$10m a year across courses, sponsorships and speaking fees, the report says. Mid-level creators can earn US$10,000 to US$60,000 from a single “conflict stream”, and top-tier events US$75,000 to US$300,000 or more. The authors label these figures as estimates unless stated otherwise.
YouTube keeps 45% of advertising revenue and pays creators 55%, while the streaming site Kick keeps 5%, the report finds. Kristina Wilfore, director of global projects and innovation at Reset Tech and a co-author, told Fortune that viral trends hide “massive infrastructure.”
The authors present their subject as consumer harm. “It is a report about financial predation, not culture war,” the Equimundo summary says. The report also states its limits. It says words such as “scam” and “grift” are analytical and consumer-protection terms. It makes no finding of criminal liability, and named parties dispute the allegations.
The young men buying in
Gallup’s 2023 and 2024 polling found 25% of US men aged 15 to 34 felt lonely on a typical day. The figure for women of the same age was 18%, and for other American adults 17%, Gallup reported. Daily loneliness among young men reached 29% in Türkiye, 24% in France and 22% in Canada, against an OECD median of 15%.
A Movember Institute survey of more than 3,000 men aged 16 to 25 in the UK, US and Australia found 63% watch men and masculinity influencers. Viewers were more likely to report worse mental health and more risk-taking, and 27% reported feelings of worthlessness. The survey shows an association, and Movember says the content “may play a role”.
Movember also found 43% of viewers found the content motivating. Many described it as entertaining and inspiring. Any response that dismisses it outright will miss why young men seek it out.
The cost for women
The Grift Economy finds that “Anti-woman messaging online is often not hateful, and it does not stay about women.” It analyses posts that call women’s standards “impossible” and define women’s value through submission. Its authors describe these as a gateway to conspiratorial and authoritarian politics.
Reset Tech and Equimundo cite the Global Network on Extremism and Technology, which found in December 2025 that “misogynistic or violent rhetoric is a financial incentive.” UN Women’s explainer on the manosphere says the movement’s extreme language “has growing links to radicalization and extremist ideologies.” Its May 2025 media advisory links these narratives to backlash against women’s rights and the trivialising of gender-based violence.
The evidence on harm is clearer for attitudes and online abuse than for physical violence. The Grift Economy offers no data on whether its audience goes on to harm women. UN Women cites Institute for Strategic Dialogue research suggesting relatively few users reach the most extreme content. One global study cited by UN Women found 58% of girls and young women had experienced online abuse.
Offline, 31.6% of women worldwide, or 840 million women and girls, have faced partner violence or non-partner sexual violence. Those are the WHO’s 2023 estimates, the latest available.
A Rwandan programme that changed behaviour
Rwanda’s Bandebereho programme brought fathers and their partners together for group sessions on gender, parenting and relationships. A randomised controlled trial published in PLoS ONE in 2018 followed 1,199 couples across four districts.
At 21 months, women in the programme had lower odds of past-year physical partner violence (odds ratio 0.37) and sexual partner violence (odds ratio 0.34). Men did more childcare and housework. They also more often went with their partners to antenatal care. The trial covered one country and one programme design, so results elsewhere may differ.
Equimundo’s State of the World’s Fathers 2026 draws on online panels of 8,000 parents and caregivers in 16 countries, plus 400 interviews. It examines how ideas of masculinity affect fathers’ health, relationships and politics.
Talking with boys about what they watch
UN Women’s guidance on countering the manosphere gives mothers, fathers and other caregivers a starting point. “It’s important to normalize conversations with young people about their internet use while encouraging their independence,” it says. It asks caregivers to watch for signs of harmful online influence and to “find the right moment to talk to them”.
The same page suggests talking to children about gender equality and stereotypes. It recommends teaching young men to ask of any post, “who made this, why and what’s missing?” It also advises checking several sources, ideally primary ones, before believing data.
Laws that already apply
The Grift Economy argues that much of the regulatory toolkit already exists. It points to false advertising law, rules on deceptive subscriptions and enforcement against undisclosed paid promotion. It also names systemic-risk laws for platforms, including the EU’s Digital Services Act, the UK Online Safety Act and equivalent rules in Australia, Brazil and Canada.
UN Women asks governments to treat digital violence as part of violence against women and girls, and to require more transparency about how platform algorithms work. The report adds that age verification and school phone limits are necessary but insufficient on their own. It recommends tackling young men’s isolation and economic insecurity directly.
The authors argue that regulators can act with powers they already hold. “The consumer-protection statutes are on the books,” they write.
This article is for information only and does not replace advice from a qualified health professional.
Header image: Yazid N on Unsplash