Major social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, and X, have failed to adequately protect LGBTQ+ users from hate and harassment, according to GLAAD’s annual Social Media Safety Index. The advocacy group asserts that these platforms have contributed to the issue by reversing previous safety measures.
The report highlights that significant changes in hate speech policies by companies like Meta (which owns Instagram and Facebook) and Google (which owns YouTube) have directly undermined LGBTQ+ safety. Meta, for example, has allowed users to call LGBTQ individuals “mentally ill,” among other policy changes.
GLAAD’s scorecard, which rates platforms on LGBTQ+ safety, privacy, and freedom of expression, found X (formerly Twitter) with the lowest score of 30 out of 100, while TikTok scored the highest at 56. Meta platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and Threads) and Google’s YouTube were rated in the 40s. It’s important to note that the methodology for the report has changed, so the scores are not directly comparable to last year’s ratings.
Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD’s president and CEO, expressed concern, stating, “At a time when real-world violence and harassment against LGBTQ people is on the rise, social media companies are profiting from the flames of anti-LGBTQ hate instead of ensuring the basic safety of LGBTQ users.”
X has consistently received the lowest scores, particularly after Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform in 2022. Meta’s decline in ratings is largely due to a shift in policy, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg stating that the company is removing restrictions on topics like immigration and gender, citing recent elections as a reason for the change. GLAAD describes this rollback as “particularly extreme.”
GLAAD also pointed out that Google recently removed “gender identity and expression” from YouTube’s list of protected categories, suggesting the platform no longer fully protects transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming users from hate. Google has denied this, maintaining that its hate speech policy remains unchanged, with strict measures to detect and remove harmful content targeting the LGBTQ+ community. However, GLAAD emphasized that the removal of gender identity as a protected characteristic on YouTube’s hate speech policy page remains concerning.
GLAAD’s report includes recommendations for improving safety for LGBTQ+ users, such as stronger protections against hate, harassment, and violence, prohibiting targeted misgendering and “deadnaming” of transgender users, and clarifying how platforms handle the removal or demonetization of legitimate LGBTQ+ content. However, given the current trend of policy rollbacks, it remains unclear whether these suggestions will be implemented by the platforms.