Online abuse against women is on the rise, but why aren’t the police, government and social media sites doing more to stop it?
Social media companies say they take online hate against women seriously – and they have rules to protect users from abuse. These include suspending, restricting or even shutting down accounts sending hate.
But my experience suggests they often don’t. I reported some of the worst messages I’ve ever received – including threats to come to my house to rape me and commit horrific sexual acts – to Facebook when I received them. But months later, the account remained on Facebook, along with dozens of other Instagram and Twitter accounts sending me abuse.
It turns out my experience is part of a pattern. New research for this programme by the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, shows how 97% of 330 accounts sending misogynistic abuse on Twitter and Instagram remained on the site after being reported.
Social media sites have come under increasing pressure not to promote misleading information about vaccines and the pandemic. But why hasn’t that happened with misogynistic content on Facebook and Instagram?
Source: I get abuse and threats online – why can’t it be stopped? – BBC News