Social media giants failing LGBTQIA+ users

The latest Social Media Safety Index report from American LGBTQIA+ media advocacy organisation GLAAD has found that the six leading social media platforms - TikTok, YouTube, X, and Meta’s Facebook, Instagram and Threads - are all failing dismally when it comes to providing basic protections for the safety of their queer users.

The Social Media Safety Index report scores each social media platform out of 100 across 14 indicators covering areas such as data privacy, content moderation, moderator training, transparency, and workforce diversity.

Unsurprisingly, X scored the lowest of the six social media platforms with a measly 30, while TikTok was the highest ranked with just 56. Every company reviewed failed to meet basic safety standards in most categories.

GLAAD noted a number of “alarming” 2025 policy changes by the social media giants, including YouTube’s removal of gender identity as a protected characteristic under its hate speech policy and Meta’s introduction of broad new exceptions permitting hate speech, such as referring to LGBTQIA+ people as “abnormal” or “mentally ill”.

“At a time when real-world violence and harassment against LGBTQ people is on the rise, social media companies are profiting from the flames of anti-LGBTQ hate instead of ensuring the basic safety of LGBTQ users,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis.

Read more here.