February 16, 2026 l Dalena Reporters
Officials from Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) testified before Parliament that anti-feminist beliefs are increasingly relevant to national security not necessarily because holding controversial views is illegal, but because such ideology can help fuel pathways to violent extremism when combined with other risk factors.
During the testimony, CSIS representatives emphasized that while expressing anti-feminist views alone doesn’t meet the legal definition of a security threat, the narratives associated with those views can provide a grievance framework that legitimizes hostility toward women and gender equality and that in some contexts, those narratives are consistent with patterns seen in ideologically motivated violent extremists.
Why CSIS Is Raising Concerns
Analysts explained to lawmakers that Canada’s intelligence services have observed online communities and social media networks where anti-feminist rhetoric circulates widely — sometimes overlapping with extremist themes that reject democratic pluralism or encourage hostility toward protected groups. Those connections have led security officials to label anti-feminist ideology as “an enabling factor along pathways to violent extremism” even if the ideology itself isn’t criminal.
The CSIS testimony referenced familiar patterns from Canada’s past extremist violence, including the 1989 École Polytechnique Montréal massacre, a mass shooting in which the perpetrator specifically targeted women because of his expressed hatred of feminists. That attack has increasingly entered security discussions as an example of anti-gender violence with long-term implications.
CSIS also highlighted how online algorithm-driven echo chambers especially since the COVID-19 pandemic have helped spread and reinforce radical beliefs among diverse age groups, lowering barriers to exposure to violent narratives and increasing the risk that some individuals could be drawn toward extremist conduct.
Broader National Security Context
The testimony makes clear that Canada’s intelligence community now views gender-based extremist risks including violent misogyny and hostility toward gender equality as part of its integrated threat assessments, alongside other ideologically motivated violent extremism categories. While not all anti-feminist speech is harmful, security officials are watching how some of these ideas intersect with vectors that could eventually contribute to real-world violence if left unchecked.
The discussion is part of an evolving debate over how national security policy should respond to radicalisation processes in digital environments, particularly when ideologies combine with social isolation, grievance narratives, and echo chamber dynamics that can amplify harmful behaviours.