From National to Transnational: When Do Anti-Gender Movements Reach Out Across Borders?

Digital technologies have seemingly acted as a catalyst for the transnational diffusion of far-right and anti-gender movements, facilitating cross-border exchanges. However, research suggests that these movements have only partially utilized their potential for transnational communication. This study investigates the conditions under which anti-gender movement organizations engage in transnational discussions online by analyzing the tweet behavior of 98 accounts from three European countries—Germany, Italy, and Poland—over the period from 2012 to 2022. Drawing on social movement theory and the concept of political and gendered opportunity structures, the analysis reveals that anti-gender movement organizations tend to increase transnational outreach when domestic opportunities are constrained and focus more on national communication when domestic opportunities are more favorable. This pattern aligns with the “boomerang effect” (Keck & Sikkink, 1998), suggesting that anti-gender movement organizations do not automatically scale-shift to the transnational level. Rather, their choice of communication arenas and levels appears to be a strategic adaptation to domestic contexts.