It should not be a surprise that the social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook Instagram and YouTube, under criticism as spreaders of hate, are being used to attack AAPI online users.
Asian Americans experienced the largest single rise in severe online hate and harassment year-over-year in comparison to other groups, with 17% having experienced sexual harassment, stalking, physical threats, swatting, doxing or sustained harassment this year compared to 11% last year, according to a new survey released by the Anti-Defamation League.
Fifty percent of Asian American respondents who were harassed reported that the harassment was because of their race or ethnicity. Although 50% is extraordinarily high, it is actually lower than last year when 55% of AAPI say they experienced hate posts, responses or trolls.
The nationally representative survey also found a sharp rise in online harassment of African Americans based on their race, from 42% attributing their harassment to their race last year to 59% in this year’s survey. This follows a year where the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and too many other Black individuals by police officers sparked a wave of massive racial justice protests that drew at least 15 million Americans — perhaps the largest protest movement ever in U.S. history.
The findings come in a year when technology companies have been attempting to step up enforcement on their platforms to tamp down online hate and harassment by instituting new policies and taking action against bad actors.
The findings come in a year when technology companies have been attempting to step up enforcement on their platforms to tamp down online hate and harassment by instituting new policies and taking action against bad actors.
Despite these efforts, American adults who were harassed indicated they experienced the most harassment on Facebook (75 percent), followed by Twitter (24%), Instagram (24%) and YouTube (21%).
“This survey shows that even as technology companies insist that they are taking unprecedented steps to moderate hateful content on their social media platforms, the user experience hasn’t changed all that much. Americans of many different backgrounds continue to experience online hate and harassment at levels that are totally unacceptable,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO.
“And not surprisingly, after a year where national figures including the president himself routinely scapegoated China and Chinese people for spreading the coronavirus, Asian-Americans experienced heightened levels of harassment online, just as they did offline.”
Overall, 41% of Americans reported having experienced some form of online hate and harassment in this year’s survey. The survey found that 33%t of respondents attributed their harassment to an identity characteristic, which was defined as their sexual orientation, religion, race or ethnicity, gender identity, or disability. Twenty-eight percent of respondents who were harassed reported being targeted because of their race or ethnicity.
The overwhelming majority of those polled – 81% of Americans – agreed with the statement that social media platforms should do more to combat online hate. Furthermore, 77% of Americans think laws need to be made to hold social media platforms accountable for recommending users join extremist groups.
In response to these serious issues, ADL is announcing the REPAIR Plan to hold platforms and individual perpetrators accountable for enabling online hate and extremism. Like ADL’s PROTECT Plan, REPAIR focuses on fighting domestic extremism and terrorism, but goes beyond these issues to address other manifestations and harms of online hate.
Overall, 41% of Americans reported having experienced some form of online hate and harassment in this year’s survey. The survey found that 33%t of respondents attributed their harassment to an identity characteristic, which was defined as their sexual orientation, religion, race or ethnicity, gender identity, or disability. Twenty-eight percent of respondents who were harassed reported being targeted because of their race or ethnicity.
The overwhelming majority of those polled – 81% of Americans – agreed with the statement that social media platforms should do more to combat online hate. Furthermore, 77% of Americans think laws need to be made to hold social media platforms accountable for recommending users join extremist groups.
In response to these serious issues, ADL is announcing the REPAIR Plan to hold platforms and individual perpetrators accountable for enabling online hate and extremism. Like ADL’s PROTECT Plan, REPAIR focuses on fighting domestic extremism and terrorism, but goes beyond these issues to address other manifestations and harms of online hate.
“It has become increasingly clear that on their own, technology companies are not effectively preventing hate and extremism from proliferating online,” Greenblatt said. “Our REPAIR Plan aims to rectify this problem by offering a comprehensive framework for platforms and policymakers to take meaningful action to decrease online hate and extremism.”
How safe are social media platforms now? Throughout 2020 and early 2021, major technology companies announced that they were taking unprecedented action against the hate speech, harassment, misinformation and conspiracy theories that had long flourished on their platforms.
According to the latest results from ADL’s annual survey of hate and harassment on social media, despite the seeming blitz of self-regulation from technology companies, the level of online hate and harassment reported by users barely shifted when compared to reports from a year ago.
According to the latest results from ADL’s annual survey of hate and harassment on social media, despite the seeming blitz of self-regulation from technology companies, the level of online hate and harassment reported by users barely shifted when compared to reports from a year ago.
This year, fewer respondents who experienced physical threats reported them to social media platforms than was the case the year before; these users also reported that platforms were doing less to address their safety.
- 41% of respondents who experienced a physical threat stated that the platform took no action on a threatening post, an increase from the 38% who had reported a similar lack of action the year before.
- 38% said they did not flag the threatening post to the platform, up from 33% the prior year.
- Only 14% of those who experienced a physical threat said the platform deleted the threatening content, a significant drop from 22% the prior year.
- Just 17% of those who experienced a physical threat to the platform stated that the platform blocked the perpetrator who posted the content, a sharp decrease from the prior year’s 28%.
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