This is according to GLAAD, an LGBTQ+ media advocacy organisation, which released its third annual social media safety index (SMSI) report yesterday. The report found that Facebook (61%), Instagram (63%), TikTok (57%), YouTube (54%), and Twitter (33%) all collected poor grades, according to a 12-point scorecard.

The upshot of this year’s GLAAD report was seeing Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube’s scores jumping up considerably since the 2022 report. Twitter on the other hand, fell 12 points from last year, making it the most dangerous social media platform for LGBTQ+ people, according to GLAAD.

Twitter, which was acquired by Elon Musk in October of last year, can blame its 12 point loss largely to its removal of specific protections for trans and nonbinary users in April. 

First added to its hateful conduct policy in 2018, the provision read: “We prohibit targeting others with repeated slurs, tropes or other content that intends to degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes about a protected category. This includes targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals.” The updated version no longer includes the second sentence.

“While the rules were sparsely enforced, this greenlights further targeting of trans users,” said Alejandra Caraballo, clinical instructor at the Harvard Law Cyberlaw Clinic in response over Twitter. The GLAAD report also found that even when social media platforms have policies in place to address hate speech and disinformation, they often fail to enforce these policies. 

“Twitter is largely a cesspool now. You can’t post without getting attacked. There’s no room for conversation. It is just about hand-to-hand combat,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD President and CEO.

To mitigate the losses going into next year’s report, GLAAD suggests the social media platform reinstates the redacted policy above, as well as implement a commitment to LGBTQ+ expression and privacy across the company, and follow up on its commitment to diversify Twitter’s workforce. 

According to the LGBT Youth Scotland Report which is a nationwide survey taken by 1279 LGBTQ+ youth living in Scotland, over half 53% of trans participants have experienced online bullying related to their gender identity. A further 4 out of 5 respondents did not feel their community was accurately portrayed online. 

“Dehumanising anti-LGBTQ content on social media such as misinformation and hate have an outsized impact on real world violence and harmful anti-LGBTQ legislation, but social media platforms too often fail at enforcing their own policies regarding such content,” said Ellis.

Recommended

• The UK Government Publishes Renewed Geospatial Strategy
• Cloud Still Tops Investment Priorities Among UK Businesses
• Human Error Continues to Receive Most Blame for Cyber Breaches

GLAAD’s SMSI also delved into the real-world impact of anti-LGBTQ online hate speech and its connection to harm and violence. The report documented 23 cases in the past year where anti LGBTQ+ rhetoric moved from the digital space to real-life harms.

“While the use of social media and digital platforms to spread hatred is relatively recent, the weaponization of public discourse for political gain is unfortunately not new. As history continues to show, hate speech coupled with disinformation can lead to stigmatisation, discrimination and large-scale violence,” read the United Nations in Understanding Hate Speech.

To read the full report, click here.