Popular social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube are “categorically unsafe, across the board” for members of the LGBTQ community, as detailed in a new study from GLAAD, according to Axios.
“Of special concern, the prevalence and intensity of hate speech and harassment stands out as the most significant problem in urgent need of improvement,” GLAAD said.
GLAAD representatives, along with independent experts, examined the policies and the track records of all of the social media sites regarding how they enforce their guidelines. This was done as part of GLAAD’s inaugural social media index report.
Originally, each social media site was going to be given a grade until GLAAD realized that all the sites would have received a failing grade. GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said all of the sites bill themselves as being LGBTQ-friendly, yet they allow LGBTQ people to face harassment daily.
Ellis said the social media sites have the tools to stop it, but do not prevent harmful information from spreading. LGBTQ users on Facebook have experienced the highest percentage of harassment, according to KPCC.
Around 64 percent of LGBTQ social media users suffered from harassment and hate speech more than other groups. About 75 percent of LGBTQ online users who were the victims of harassment say they experienced some of it on Facebook.
Outright physical violence against the LGBTQ community is at its highest level since the Human Rights Campaign began tracking such behavior eight years ago. At least 44 members of the community were fatally shot or killed by other means last year.




