In a first-of-its-kind report on “user experience” for the country’s leading social media platforms, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has declared Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube “effectively unsafe for LGBTQ users.”
Cynthia Silva from NBC News reported that GLAAD’s inaugural “Social Media Safety Index” report originally set out to study the “LGBTQ user safety experience” of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. While the group initially planned to grade each platform, GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said it soon became obvious that all five platforms would receive failing grades. So, the group issued a warning on their usage instead.
“What we realized was it wasn’t the right starting point. The right starting point was to give them the information to act and give them a roadmap to be successful,” Ellis said in an interview with Axios. “This is about less watchdogging, more partnering with these platforms to get it right.”
