GLAAD Gives Social Media Failing Grades Over Lack of Protections for LGBTQ Users
thegavoice.comGLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, released the findings of its second annual Social Media Safety Index (SMSI), a report on LGBTQ user safety across five major social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok.
The outcome says GLAAD is an utter failure to protect the safety of LGBTQ+ users. The 2022 SMSI introduces a Platform Scorecard developed by GLAAD in partnership with Ranking Digital Rights and Goodwin Simon Strategic Research.
The Platform Scorecard utilizes twelve LGBTQ-specific indicators to generate numeric ratings with regard to LGBTQ safety, privacy, and expression.
A listing of the indicators is available here and below. After reviewing the platforms on measures like explicit protections from hate and harassment for LGBTQ users, offering gender pronoun options on profiles, and prohibiting advertising that could be harmful and/or discriminatory to LGBTQ people, all platforms scored under a 50 out of a possible 100: ● Instagram: 48% ● Facebook: 46% ● Twitter: 45% ● YouTube: 45% ● TikTok: 43% Primary Platform Scorecard indicators include: ● The company should disclose a policy commitment to protect LGBTQ users from harm, discrimination, harassment, and hate on the platform. ● The company should disclose an option for users to add pronouns to user profiles. ● The company should disclose a policy that expressly prohibits targeted deadnaming and misgendering of other users. ● The company should clearly disclose what options users have to control the company’s collection, inference, and use of information related to their sexual orientation and gender identity. ● The company should disclose training for content
