Most members of the community (94%) have experienced hate speech whilst being online during the past year, and nearly 3 in five (59%) personally experienced intersecting hate speech.
More than two in 3 (69%) reported that such experiences increased over the same period, suggesting deteriorating conditions in online spaces for community members, especially in the comments sections of online media platforms (79%). Nearly half (45%) described their encounters as “somewhat” or “extremely severe”, and one in 3 (34%) felt unsafe online.
Hate speech takes multiple forms: derogatory language (43%), harassment (34%), threats (34%) and ‘doxxing’ (16%). The emotional impact of online hate speech is extensive (86%), and 45% reported that hate speech has affected their mental health. Most (55%) rely on friends for support. Awareness of online (9%) and legal (18%) protection is low, and responses to reporting hate speech are largely unsatisfactory (48%).