Online hate and harassment rose sharply in the United States this year across demographics, leading to the highest rates in the country since 2020, according to a new study released Tuesday.
The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) annual survey found more than half of Americans reported experiencing online hate and harassment at some point in their lives, up from 40% in 2022. About 33% of adults said they experienced online hate, up from 23% in 2022 and the increase was starker for teens, with 51% reporting online hate this year, up from 36%.
The poll surveyed 2,139 adults and 550 youth in March and April, asking about their lifetime experiences with online hate as well as what they had seen and heard in the past 12 months. The findings have a margin of error of 2 percentage points for adults and 4 percentage points for youth.
“Online hate and harassment is a really serious problem,” Jordan Kraemer, director of research at ADL, said. “Even when it stays online, it’s hugely damaging and the people to whom it’s the most damaging are often those who are not in a position of power to make the necessary changes.”
Which social media platforms see hate speech?
Although Facebook is still the platform where harassment occurs the most, attacks have been steadily decreasing on the site, according to poll respondents. Of those who reported harassment, 54% indicated that it took place on Facebook, compared with 66% who said that in 2021.
“Although we saw a slight decline on Facebook, we saw increases on TikTok, Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram, so it’s certainly possible that it’s happening elsewhere as opposed to being reduced overall,” Kraemer said.
Respondents who reported hate and harassment taking place on Reddit jumped from 5% in 2022 to 15% in 2023. A similar increase was reported by respondents on TikTok, with 19% saying they had been attacked on the platform this year compared with 15% saying that in 2022. About 27% of respondents said they were attacked on Twitter, compared with 21% of respondents blaming Twitter in 2022.
In its annual social media safety index, GLAAD, a non-profit focused on LGBTQ advocacy, gave low and failing scores to all five main social media platforms– Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter– on LGBTQ safety. Twitter was the most dangerous social platform for LGBTQ people, according to GLAAD.
Oliver Haimson, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Information, said through his research he found that especially for the transgender community, Facebook is not typically used as the primary social media platform to explore gender and sexual identities. He said this could be a reason why people are experiencing less harassment on Facebook compared with before.
“Some of my past work has found that people use Facebook more to keep up with friends and family and people that they know in the physical world,” Haimson said. “So, people aren’t usually doing a lot of playing around with identity on Facebook.”
Online hate targets LGBTQ people and transgender youth
Increases in harassment rates are more pronounced among LGTBQ populations and marginalized communities of color, with about 75% of transgender respondents saying it is a problem.
Ross von Metzke, director of communications for the It Gets Better Project, a non-profit aiming to uplift and empower LGBTQ youth, said the rise in online hate and harassment against LGTBQ and transgender youth in particular can be attributed to the rise in bills being proposed about these communities.
More than 500 bills have been introduced by Republicans this year that affect the LGBTQ population. The majority of these bills specifically impact transgender life by limiting access to health care, bathrooms and sports.
“That sort of rhetoric and behavior translates to online hate. There’s a direct line,” von Metzke said. “If you are seeing a rise in hateful bigoted behavior among school administrators, or lawmakers or parents… that’s going to bleed over into the digital space.”
The ADL survey found online harassment can lead to withdrawal from online spaces. Experts noted this is particularly harmful for LGBTQ youth, who often utilize social media as a form of gender and sexual exploration.
“This is really especially difficult because so many LGBTQ people and trans people in particular use online spaces to build community and it’s really important, especially for people who are more isolated,” Haimson said.
ADL said it strongly recommends tech companies enact policies that combat hate and harassment on their platforms in a transparent and equitable way. This should include regaining the public trust through regularly conducted individual audits, the ADL report stated.
