Social media platforms witness a persistent rise in hate and harassment.

According to a recent survey by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), over half of Americans have experienced hate or harassment online, with a significant increase in incidents over the past year, particularly among teenagers. This trend is causing real-world harm and preventing many individuals from fully participating in the increasingly digital society.

Key findings from the survey include:

• Harassment rates have risen across various demographics, with underrepresented religious and ethnic groups, as well as LGBTQ+ individuals, experiencing particularly pronounced increases.
• Transgender Americans reported the highest levels of online hate and harassment, with three-quarters stating they had been harassed at some point, and over half targeted within the past year.
• Nearly half of the LGBQ+ community reported experiencing online hate or harassment in the past year.
• Blacks and Muslims also faced high rates of online attacks, with 38% of both groups reporting being targeted over the last 12 months. Among Jewish respondents, 26% said they were targeted, up from 21% in the previous year’s survey.
• Teenagers experienced a significant increase in harassment, with 51% reporting some form of harassment in the past year, compared to 36% in the previous survey. Among adults, one-third experienced online hate or harassment, up from 23% in the previous year.
• Certain platforms showed higher levels of harassment. Over half of those who were harassed reported being targeted on Facebook, while the number of people reporting harassment on Twitter and Reddit saw a significant increase compared to the previous year.

Yael Eisenstat, head of the ADL’s Center for Technology and Society, emphasized that online hate and harassment go beyond “hurtful speech” and have wide-ranging negative consequences, including exclusion from conversations, emotional distress, reputational harm, and economic impact. Eisenstat also noted that online content promoting hate has been linked to real-world violence, including acts of mass shootings and threats against hospitals providing gender-affirming care.

The ADL and other civil liberties groups have called on social media companies to take stronger action against online hate. GLAAD recently gave failing grades to major platforms for their efforts to combat online hate, highlighting their failure to consistently enforce their own policies.

The survey was conducted online by YouGov from March 7 to March 24, 2023, and involved 2,139 participants.