Rising Online Hate in the US Targets LGBTQ, Black People, and Muslims

More than half of all Americans, which is more than half of the people in the United States, have experienced mean and hurtful behavior on the internet. This includes things like people saying mean and hateful things to them or about them online. A new survey shows that this kind of behavior has been happening more often in the past year.

The survey asked a lot of people about their experiences, and they found that a lot of different groups of people have been targeted by this online hate.

The survey found that the LGBTQ community, which includes people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer, Black Americans and Muslims have experienced the most hate online in the past year. The survey was done by an organization called the Anti-Defamation League, and they do this survey every year to see how much hate and harassment there is online.

They found that the amount of hate and harassment online is at the highest level it has ever been since they started surveying in 2020. That means that more people are being mean and hurtful to others on the internet. Over half of all Americans, which is more than half of the people in the United States, have experienced this kind of hate or harassment online at some point in their lives. This is a 12-point increase compared to the last survey they did, which covered most of 2022.

The survey also found that in the past year, which is the last 12 months, 33% of adults said they have encountered online hate or harassment. This is higher than the previous year, which means more adults are experiencing this kind of behavior online. The survey asked people about their experiences on social media, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.

Transgender individuals, which means people who don't identify with the gender they were assigned at birth, have been targeted with hate online the most. 76% of transgender people said they have been treated with hate online at some point in their lives, and 51% said it happened in the past year. This is much higher compared to other groups of people.

The survey also asked about different ethnic and religious groups. It found that in the past year, 47% of LGBTQ people, 38% of Black people, and 38% of Muslims said they were harassed online. Black Americans were more likely to experience hate in the past 12 months compared to any other ethnic group.

For Jewish people, 44% said they had been harassed online in their lifetime, and 26% in the past year. This is higher compared to the previous survey. One out of every four Jewish people said they avoid saying they are Jewish online because they are afraid of violence and harassment.

Even teenagers, who are between the ages of 13 and 17, are experiencing more online hate. 51% of teenagers said they have been harassed online, which is a 15-point increase compared to the previous year.

The survey also asked about where this hate is happening the most. 54% of people said they experienced hate on Facebook, which is a popular social media platform. Twitter and Instagram were next, with 27% of people saying they experienced hate there. TikTok, another social media app, had 19% of people reporting hate. The survey found that hate on Facebook has been going down in the past three years, but it has been going up on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.

The report said that the increase in online hate is connected to what political leaders, celebrities, and other famous people say. They also mentioned things like conversations about transgender rights, reproductive rights, racial justice, and voting access. The report said that this hate online can sometimes lead to real violence and danger in our communities.

The survey also found that hate and harassment online don't stay on the internet. It can spill over into the real world. For example, there have been bomb threats against hospitals that provide care for transgender people. There was also a person who killed seven people in Texas and posted hateful things online about women, LGBTQ people, and Jewish people.

The report warned that this online hate is a serious problem, and it needs to be stopped. They said that tech companies, like the ones that make social media apps, need to do more to stop this hate from happening. They also said that policymakers, like people who make laws, need to make it a priority to stop online hate.

The survey asked a lot of adults and teenagers about their experiences, and the results have some numbers that might not be exactly right. But overall, they give us a good idea of how much hate and harassment there is online. The survey was done by an organization called the Anti-Defamation League, and they got help from a company called YouGov to collect the data.