According to a new report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), more than half of Americans experience online hate and harassment in their lifetime.
Additionally, the groups most affected by the problem were found to be the LGBTQ+ community (49%), Muslims (47%) and Jews (34%). Data is drawn from the ADL's sixth annual online harassment survey.
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the organization, expressed that “the hate we are seeing online does not stay online, it causes real harm and violence in people's lives. “It is time for everyone to take action to protect communities and marginalized groups from hate and harassment.”
In addition, Greenblatt He added that “despite the many promises made by online platforms, hate and harassment continue to plague the internet. Lawmakers and big tech companies must follow through on their commitments to address online hate and harassment.”
As part of the survey, 2.479 adults and 532 adolescents were interviewed, with a margin of error of two and four percentage points for the two groups respectively. The results of the survey of adolescents, between 13 and 17 years old, show that online harassment remained constant at 50% last year.
Daniel Kelley, associate director of the ADL's Center for Technology and Society, said, “Even more troubling is the fact that this barrage of hate occurs while platforms continue to reduce their content moderation teams and there is no transparency about how “Tech companies are enforcing their own rules.”