Study: Over half in US report online harassment
Online hate and harassment have risen sharply in the United States this year across demographic groups, leading to the highest rates in the country since 2020, according to a new study released Tuesday.
The Anti-Defamation League’s 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 youths 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 youths.
“Online hate and harassment is a really serious problem,” said Jordan Kraemer, director of research at ADL. “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.”
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 nonprofit focused on LGBTQ+ advocacy, gave low and failing scores to all five of the 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 that especially for transgender people, Facebook is not typically the primary social media platform to explore gender and sexual identities. He said this could be why people are experiencing less harassment on Facebook now.
“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.”
Increases in harassment rates are more pronounced among LGBTQ+ populations and marginalized communities of color. About 75% of transgender respondents say it is a problem.