GLAAD Condemns Social Media Giants for Failing LGBTQ Communities

[Social Media]

 

GLAAD Condemns Social Media Giants for Failing LGBTQ Communities

 

In a blistering new report, the LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD has accused major social media platforms of rolling back essential protections for LGBTQ users, calling recent policy changes “appalling” and a threat to community safety. The findings were released as part of GLAAD’s annual Social Media Safety Index, which evaluates platforms on their efforts to protect LGBTQ people from online hate, harassment, and violence.

 

“Recent years undeniably illustrate how online hate speech and misinformation negatively influence public opinion, legislation, and the real-world safety and health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people,” said GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. She highlighted the damaging effects of relaxed content moderation policies, particularly by industry giants Meta and YouTube.

 

Jenni Olson, senior director of GLAAD’s Social Media Safety Program, echoed this concern, describing the shifts in moderation policy as “extreme” and out of step with best practices. “It’s just appalling to see such extreme shifts away from best practices in trust and safety,” Olson told Axios. She added, “Execs and employees at these companies owe the LGBTQ community answers about what their next steps are going to be to address these issues and stand up for the safety of their LGBTQ users.”

 

GLAAD’s report assessed six major platforms—TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Threads, and X (formerly Twitter)—based on 14 indicators, including protections against misgendering, deadnaming, promotion of so-called conversion therapy, and overall transparency. All six platforms received failing grades. TikTok scored the highest with a 56 out of 100, while X ranked lowest at 30. Facebook and Instagram both scored 45, YouTube followed at 41, and Threads came in at 40.

 

Although TikTok was noted for banning misgendering, deadnaming, and conversion therapy content, the report criticized the platform for its lack of transparency. “Major ideological shifts from Meta have been particularly extreme,” Ellis said, pointing to the company’s decision to allow previously banned content, including “debunked allegations of mental illness or abnormality” relating to gender and sexual orientation.

 

Meta’s decision in January to ease its moderation policies drew immediate criticism from human rights advocates, who warned it could embolden real-world violence. Even Meta’s own Oversight Board urged the company to investigate the human rights impact of these policy changes.

 

Meanwhile, YouTube came under fire for quietly removing “gender identity and expression” from its list of protected characteristics. Though a YouTube spokesperson insisted that the platform’s policies remained unchanged, GLAAD countered, saying, “It is an objective fact that the gender identity protection is no longer expressly present in its public-facing policy.”

 

“This type of backpedaling is not only dangerous, it’s irresponsible,” Olson said, underscoring how policy changes at these massive platforms reverberate far beyond the digital space. “They set the tone for what is acceptable discourse globally.”

 

The report also notes that GLAAD has revised its scoring methodology, so direct year-to-year comparisons are not applicable. However, the overall message remains clear: major platforms are failing to meet the moment when it comes to protecting LGBTQ users.

 

YouTube responded in a statement, saying, “We confirmed earlier this year our hate speech policy hasn’t changed. We have strict policies against content that promotes hatred or violence against members of the LGBTQ+ community and we continue to be vigilant in our efforts to quickly detect and remove this content,” according to spokesperson Boot Bullwinkle.

 

Other companies, including Meta, TikTok, and X, did not respond to Axios’ requests for comment.

 

Among its recommendations, GLAAD urged platforms to collaborate with independent researchers to provide transparency in content moderation, community guidelines, AI use, and enforcement reporting. Whether social media giants will act on these recommendations remains to be seen—but for GLAAD, the message is urgent and unmistakable: the safety of LGBTQ people is non-negotiable.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from AXIOS  2025-05-16

 

 

[FlorC]

GLAAD is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization.

 

Did Doge forget to defund them ?

 

GLAAD - Wikipedia

[MalcolmB]

Makes a fair point.

When I was a teenager gay bashing was a thing.

We looked for them and bashed them for no reason other than they were gay, a sort of mob hatred.

And mostly they were police were not interested.

Looking back on it I can see that we were wrong.

Live and let live.

[Yagoda]

Homosexuality and Transgenderism is an abnormality and freedom of speech allows me to say it.

 

 

[impulse]

What ever happened to "Sticks and Stones"?

 

We're raising another generation of wimps and snowflakes, totally incapable of thriving in the real world, where not everyone spends 90% of their conscious energy trying not to offend anyone.  As if that's even possible any more.

 

[James105]

The LGBT community is under attack on social media you say?