Out in the World: Reports find conversion therapy disinformation thriving online
Search engine and social media companies are failing to root out disinformation about widely debunked conversion therapy, according to two new reports released January 12.
The issue is so rampant online that researchers and report co-authors Wendy Via and Heidi Beirich, Ph.D., published two separate reports to spell out the conversion therapy issues and solutions for search engines and social media networks.
They called on tech companies to act. Conversion therapy attempts to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.
The practice is widely debunked by the United Nations and medical associations around the world, with some organizations denouncing it as a form of "torture." The reports "Conversion Therapy Online: The Ecosystem: Online Search Algorithms Allow Access to Anti-LGBTQ+ Conversion Therapy Providers and Other Harmful Materials, Especially in Non-English Languages", and "Conversion Therapy Online: The Players: Anti-LGBTQ+ Conversion Therapy Proponents Who Wrongly Believe That Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Can and Should Be Changed Have Found A Home Online" were published by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, or GPAHE.
