ADL's fifth such annual survey showed that reports of online
hate and harassment over the last 12 months increased within
almost every demographic group.
About 52% of the survey responders reported having faced online
harassment, compared to 40% in the survey's previous year.
"We're confronted with record levels of hate across the
internet, hate that too often turns into real violence and
danger in our communities," said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt,
urging tech and social media platforms to do more to tackle
online hate.
The rate of harassment stood at 76% for transgender people,
while 26% of Jewish respondents, 38% of Black Americans and 38%
of Muslims said they had been harassed online at some point in
their life.
Excluding transgender people, 47% of the LGBTQ+ community
respondents reported online harassment.
"Due to the recent proliferation of extreme anti-transgender
legislation and rhetoric, ADL sampled transgender individuals
separately this year," the advocacy group said.
Republican-led states have signed a flurry of bills relating to
transgender youth, which proponents say are aimed at protecting
minors and opponents say limit their rights. Some states have
banned teachers of younger children from discussing gender or
sexuality, while conservative lawmakers have also proposed or
passed laws restricting drag performances.
Earlier this month, President Joe Biden warned about "ugly"
attacks from "hysterical" people who he said were targeting
LGBTQ Americans, especially transgender youth.
The survey of 2,139 adults and 550 teenagers was conducted
online from March 7 through April 6 by YouGov, a public opinion
and data analytics firm, on behalf of ADL. It oversampled
respondents who identified as LGBTQ+ or as members of various
minorities.
Of those who reported being harassed, 54% indicated harassment
took place on Facebook, 27% said it took place on Twitter, and
21% said it occurred on Reddit.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Ismail
Shakil and Rosalba O'Brien)
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