The Social Media Safety Program report marks the second year in a row that GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign have found social media companies to be skirting their responsibilities around moderating hateful content against the LGBTQ+ community. To GLAAD's Senior Director of Communications Tony Morrison, it comes down to content moderation.
GLAAD & HRC Urge Social Media Platforms to Protect Trans Rights
"There is a direct line from online harassment and threats of violence online to real world harm. We're seeing that over and over again. Real world harm comes from just the rhetoric online," he tells Sonia Baghdady of Advocate Now. "These are five social media giants who are really responsible for this spread of hate. And they're just not taking responsibility for any of it."
In partnership with the Anti-Defamation League, GLAAD has found over 350 incidents of violence and harassment targeted at LGBTQ+ people in just the past year. Morrison says that "there is a direct line from online harassment and threats of violence online to real world harm."
"They're simply not enforcing policies and products already in place that truly already exist to help protect LGBTQ+ people and underrepresented people on their platforms," he adds. "These are these are policies and products already in place that they're simply not enforcing. ... You made this world, you created these platforms. You can write the code to also protect the community as well."
While the organizations are working behind-the-scenes with social media platforms to better moderate content, Morrison praises the 250+ celebrities and public figures who have signed onto their call to improve LGBTQ+ safety. As he notes, "Words matter, and they do know that."
"We're also asking our elected officials and people who have influential voices to use their platforms for good, because it's only going to get worse if it goes unchecked," Morrison says.
For more interviews like these, watch Advocate Now on The Advocate Channel.
