Following an escalation of hateful attacks on platforms like TikTok and Twitter, a leading LGBTQ advocacy organization gave the social media sites a safety score to protect vulnerable users. Reportedly, all of the networks received a failing grade.
According to GLAAD’s Social Media Safety Index, the top five social networks scored below 50 out of 100% on safety for LGBTQ users. The purpose of this organization is to fight hate against lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, and queer people. Based on the report released on Wednesday, Instagram ranks the least bad at 48%, followed by Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and TikTok.
Jenni Olson, the senior director of GLAAD’s social media safety program, commented that the entire social media industry is failing LGBTQ people. Scores are based on factors such as gender pronouns on profiles, content moderation, and the diversity of their workforces. Since last year, many companies have improved, but GLAAD hopes this report will help catalyze more significant changes.
Following the prompting of GLAAD and UltraViolet, a female-empowerment organization, TikTok updated its Community Guidelines in February to explicitly prohibit misgendering, deadnaming and misogyny. GLAAD calls deadnaming an invasion of privacy that undermines any trans person’s identity, which can put them at risk of discrimination and violence.
A spokesperson for Alphabet Inc.’s Google, which includes YouTube, said the company had progressed significantly in its ability to remove hateful content faster and easier than ever, as well as to prominently display content from authoritative sources on its search results pages.
In a statement, Meta Platforms Inc., which owns Facebook and Instagram, said the company prohibits violent or dehumanizing content directed at LGBTQ people and removes claims about someone’s gender identity upon request.
A spokesperson for TikTok pointed to new tools to promote kindness and policies that prohibit hateful behavior and said the company is committed to supporting and uplifting LGBTQ+ voices and that they work endlessly to create an inclusive environment for everyone.
Anti-Defamation League, an organization that inspects broad civil rights such as antisemitism and bias, reports LGBTQ users to face online harassment more than anyone else. According to the group’s annual Online Hate and Harassment survey, over 66% of LGBTQ experience harassment, compared to 38% of non-LGBTQ.
GLAAD links this to actual anti-LGBTQ attacks and legislation. For example, the group’s report states that Republican lawmakers have proposed 325 bills they consider anti-LGBTQ since the beginning of this year.
León Powell, a bilingual community specialist for nonprofit trans hotline and microgrant organization Trans Lifeline, regularly deletes comments on the organization’s social media posts that contain harmful statements. Powell has reported harmful comments to social media platforms, but they have not taken action, claiming the idea was not hate speech but someone’s viewpoint. As Powell pointed out, seeing these comments is hard, but fortunately, they have support resources that not everyone has.
A YouTube spokesperson said the site surfaces primarily authoritative sources when people search for “transgender” and that the site will explain that conversion therapy is a dangerous and discredited practice if they search for “conversion therapy.”.
Powell reported some Trans Lifeline ads on Facebook to get flagged as promoting hateful speech as they contain the word “transgender.” When this happens, they have to resubmit the ad for human review, which is why Powell believes social media platforms should monitor content more humanly instead of using artificial intelligence.
The GLAAD report calls on companies to conduct training for content moderators that trains them on the needs of vulnerable users. In addition, Olson called on companies to strengthen and enforce community guidelines, respect data privacy and improve transparency with algorithm designs.
Featured Image: Megapixl @ Karenr
