Facebook ranks worst for online harassment, according to a global activist survey

Activists astir the satellite are calling attraction to harassment they’ve faced connected Meta’s platforms. More than 90 percent of onshore and biology defenders surveyed by Global Witness, a nonprofit enactment that besides tracks the murders of biology advocates, reported experiencing immoderate benignant of online maltreatment oregon harassment connected to their work. Facebook was the most-cited platform, followed by X, WhatsApp, and Instagram.

Global Witness and galore of the activists it surveyed are calling connected Meta and its peers to bash much to code harassment and misinformation connected their platforms. Left to fester, they fearfulness that online attacks could substance real-world risks to activists. Around 75 percent of radical surveyed said they believed that online maltreatment they experienced corresponded to offline harm.

“Those stats truly stayed with me. They were truthful overmuch higher than we expected them to be,” Ava Lee, run strategy pb connected integer threats astatine Global Witness, tells The Verge. That’s contempt expecting a gloomy result based connected anterior anecdotal accounts. “It has benignant of agelong been known that the acquisition of clime activists and biology defenders online is beauteous awful,” Lee says.

Global Witness surveyed much than 200 radical betwixt November 2024 and March of this twelvemonth that it was capable to scope done the aforesaid networks it taps erstwhile documenting the killings of onshore and biology defenders. It recovered Meta-owned platforms to beryllium “the astir toxic.” Around 62 percent of participants said they encountered maltreatment connected Facebook, 36 percent connected WhatsApp, and 26 percent connected Instagram. 

That astir apt reflects however fashionable Meta’s platforms are astir the world. Facebook has much than 3 cardinal progressive monthly users, much than a 3rd of the planetary population. But Meta besides abandoned its third-party fact-checking program successful January, which critics warned could pb to much hatred code and disinformation. Meta moved to a crowdsourced attack to contented moderation akin to X, wherever 37 percent of survey participants reported experiencing abuse. 

In May, Meta reported a “small summation successful the prevalence of bullying and harassment content” connected Facebook arsenic good arsenic “a tiny summation successful the prevalence of convulsive and graphic content” during the archetypal 4th of 2025.

“That’s benignant of the irony arsenic well, of them moving towards this benignant of escaped code model, which really we’re seeing that it’s silencing definite voices,” says Hannah Sharpe, a elder campaigner astatine Global Witness.

Fatrisia Ain leads a section corporate of women successful Sulawesi, Indonesia, wherever she says thenar lipid companies person seized farmers’ lands and contaminated a stream section villagers utilized to beryllium capable to trust connected for drinking water. Posts connected Facebook person accused her of being a communist, a unsafe allegation successful her country, she tells The Verge.

The signifier of “red-tagging” — labeling immoderate dissident voices arsenic communists — has been utilized to people and criminalize activists in Southeast Asia. In 1 high-profile case, a salient environmental activistic successful Indonesia was jailed nether “anti-communism” laws aft opposing a caller golden mine.

Ain says she’s asked Facebook to instrumentality down respective posts attacking her, without success. “They said it’s not dangerous, truthful they can’t instrumentality it down. It is dangerous. I anticipation that Meta would understand, successful Indonesia, it’s dangerous,” Ain says. 

Other posts person accused Ain of trying to defraud farmers and of having an matter with a joined man, which she sees arsenic attempts to discredit her that could upwind up exposing her to much threats successful the existent satellite — which has already been hostile to her activism. “Women who are being the defenders for my ain assemblage are much susceptible than men … much radical harass you with truthful galore things,” she says. 

Nearly two-thirds of radical who responded to the Global Witness survey said that they person feared for their safety, including Ain. She’s been physically targeted astatine protests against thenar lipid companies accused of failing to wage farmers, she tells The Verge. During a protestation extracurricular of a authorities office, men grabbed her butt and chest, she says. Now, erstwhile she leads protests, older women activists situation her to support her arsenic a information measure. 

In the Global Witness survey, astir a 4th of respondents said they’d been attacked connected the ground of their sex. “There’s grounds of the mode that women and women of colour successful peculiar successful authorities acquisition conscionable immense amounts much hatred than immoderate different group,” Lee says. “Again, we’re seeing that play retired erstwhile it comes to defenders … and the threats of intersexual violence, and the interaction that that is having connected the intelligence wellness of tons of these defenders and their quality to consciousness safe.” 

“We promote radical to usage tools disposable connected our platforms to assistance support against bullying and harassment,” Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton said successful an email to The Verge, adding that the institution is reviewing Facebook posts that targeted Ain. Meta besides pointed to its “Hidden Words” diagnostic that allows you to filter violative nonstop messages and comments connected your posts and its “Limits” diagnostic that hides comments connected your posts from users that don’t travel you. 

Other companies mentioned successful the report, including Google, TikTok, and X, did not supply on-the-record responses to inquiries from The Verge. Nor did a palm lipid company Ain says has been operating connected section farmers’ onshore without paying them, arsenic they’re supposed to bash nether a mandated profit-sharing scheme. 

Global Witness says determination are factual steps societal media companies tin instrumentality to code harassment connected their platforms. That includes dedicating much resources to their contented moderation systems, regularly reviewing these systems, and inviting nationalist input connected the process. Activists surveyed besides reported that they deliberation algorithms that boost polarizing contented and the proliferation of bots connected platforms marque the occupation worse. 

“There are a fig of choices that platforms could make,” Lee says. “Resourcing is simply a choice, and they could beryllium putting much wealth into truly bully contented moderation and truly bully spot and information [initiatives] to amended things.” 

Global Witness plans to enactment retired its adjacent study connected the killings of onshore and biology defenders successful September. Its past specified study recovered that astatine slightest 196 radical were killed successful 2023.