Facebook Ranks Worst For Online Harassment, According To A Global Activist Survey

Activists astir nan world 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 statement that besides tracks nan murders of biology advocates, reported experiencing immoderate benignant of online maltreatment aliases harassment connected to their work. Facebook was nan most-cited platform, followed by X, WhatsApp, and Instagram.

Global Witness and galore of nan activists it surveyed are calling connected Meta and its peers to do much to reside 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 group surveyed said they believed that online maltreatment they knowledgeable corresponded to offline harm.

“Those stats really stayed pinch me. They were truthful overmuch higher than we expected them to be,” Ava Lee, run strategy lead 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 nan acquisition of ambiance activists and biology defenders online is beautiful awful,” Lee says.

Left to fester, they fearfulness that online attacks could substance real-world risks

Global Witness surveyed much than 200 group betwixt November 2024 and March of this twelvemonth that it was capable to scope done nan aforesaid networks it taps erstwhile documenting nan 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 really celebrated Meta’s platforms are astir nan world. Facebook has much than 3 cardinal progressive monthly users, much than a 3rd of nan world population. But Meta besides abandoned its third-party fact-checking program successful January, which critics warned could lead to much dislike reside and disinformation. Meta moved to a crowdsourced attack to contented moderation akin to X, wherever 37 percent of study participants reported experiencing abuse. 

In May, Meta reported a “small summation successful nan prevalence of bullying and harassment content” connected Facebook arsenic good arsenic “a mini summation successful nan prevalence of convulsive and schematic content” during nan first 4th of 2025.

“That’s benignant of nan irony arsenic well, of them moving towards this benignant of free reside 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 vulnerable allegation successful her country, she tells The Verge.

The believe of “red-tagging” — labeling immoderate dissident voices arsenic communists — has been utilized to target 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 return down respective posts attacking her, without success. “They said it’s not dangerous, truthful they can’t return it down. It is dangerous. I dream 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 pinch a joined man, which she sees arsenic attempts to discredit her that could upwind up exposing her to much threats successful nan existent world — which has already been dispute to her activism. “Women who are being nan defenders for my ain organization are much susceptible than men … much group harass you pinch truthful galore things,” she says. 

Nearly two-thirds of group who responded to nan Global Witness study 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 salary 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 protect her arsenic a information measure. 

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

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

Other companies mentioned successful nan 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 do nether a mandated profit-sharing scheme. 

Global Witness says location are actual steps societal media companies tin return to reside harassment connected their platforms. That includes dedicating much resources to their contented moderation systems, regularly reviewing these systems, and inviting nationalist input connected nan process. Activists surveyed besides reported that they deliberation algorithms that boost polarizing contented and nan proliferation of bots connected platforms make nan problem worse. 

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

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