Social Media Platforms Are Quietly Turning Against LGBTQ Safety: GLAAD’s New Report Reveals It All

Every year, GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), a global LGBTQ media advocacy organisation, releases the Social Media Safety Index (SMSI) to evaluate how safe online platforms are for LGBTQ people. This year, the 2025 report raises a major red flag.

GLAAD Analysed Six Major Platforms

TikTok, YouTube, X, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads were evaluated on multiple indicators, including:

• Hate speech and policy protections
• Privacy and data collection
• Content moderation
• Algorithm transparency
• Workforce diversity

Key finding: Not one platform met basic safety standards.

Also read: 5 LGBTQ Influencers to Follow on Instagram

Scores Reveal Serious Policy Failures

Out of a score of 100, all the social media platforms failed to pass.

GLAAD said the new scorecard, developed with help from Ranking Digital Rights (RDR) and expert Andrea Hackl, introduced a fresh methodology this year. So, the scores cannot be directly compared to last year, but the report says things are getting worse.

Dangerous Rollbacks in Hate Speech Policies

Two platforms stood out, not for doing better, but for making things even worse:

YouTube

• Removed “gender identity and expression” from its hate speech policy in early 2025.
• This change happened silently between January 29 and February 6.
• YouTube still claims its policy hasn’t changed, but archived pages show otherwise.
• GLAAD has called on them to urgently restore protections.

Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Threads)

• Removed important LGBTQ protections from its hate speech policy.
• Now allows hateful terms like “abnormal” and “mentally ill” to be used against LGBTQ people.
• Uses outdated, harmful terms like “homosexuality” and “transgenderism”, often seen in anti-LGBTQ narratives.

These changes directly encourage more online hate, targeting already vulnerable users.

Online Hate = Real-World Harm?

GLAAD’s Anti-LGBTQ Extremism Reporting Tracker shows a disturbing trend, as online Hate goes up, so does offline violence.

• Harassment
• Vandalism
• Assaults motivated by anti-LGBTQ hate

Platforms aren’t just failing to stop this. They’re fueling it and making a profit off it, claims GLAAD.

Platforms Are Quietly Silencing LGBTQ Voices

GLAAD’s report also highlights:

• Suppression of LGBTQ content, videos are being removed, demonetised, or shadowbanned.
• Rise in anti-LGBTQ disinformation, even when it violates policies, often stays up.
• Algorithms promoting harmful content, while helpful or educational LGBTQ posts are restricted.

This creates a toxic environment where Hate is rewarded and support is punished.

Zero Transparency, Zero Accountability

Another huge concern is the lack of transparency:

• Platforms don’t disclose how they moderate content
• No clarity on how algorithms work
• Poor user control over data privacy

GLAAD says platforms collect too much personal data and use it for targeted ads, often without fully informed consent.

Positive Initiatives Are Too Little, Too Late

Some small efforts were made in 2024:

• TikTok launched an LGBTQIA+ Visionary Voices List during Pride Month.
• YouTube featured LGBTQ creators in their Celebrate Pride campaign.

But these one-time campaigns are just decorations compared to the bigger, deeper issues.

What Needs to Change? GLAAD’s Big Recommendations

1. Bring Back LGBTQ Protections
2. Restore strong hate speech and safety policies to protect users.
3. Train Moderators Properly
4. Make LGBTQ safety part of mandatory training across languages and regions.
5. Use AI only for flagging content, not auto-removal.
6. Show Real Transparency
7. Let users and researchers understand how decisions are made.
8. Open up about content moderation and AI use.
9. Respect Data Privacy
10. Collect less data, stop invasive tracking and algorithmic surveillance.
11. Encourage Healthy Conversations
12. Platforms should promote civil behaviour and stop giving space to hate.

Why This Matters?

GLAAD’s Senior Director of Social Media Safety, Jenni Olson, said it best:

This is not normal. Our communities deserve to live in a world that does not generate or profit off of Hate.

Social media is a lifeline for many LGBTQ users, a place to find support, a community, and a voice. But with these new changes, platforms are turning into unsafe zones. This is not just a tech issue. It’s a life and dignity issue for millions. Platforms’ silence, protections’ rollback, and failure to act speak volumes.

About GLAAD

GLAAD, short for Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is one of the world’s leading LGBTQ advocacy organisations. Founded in 1985, it has consistently worked to hold the media, entertainment, and tech industries accountable for the fair, accurate, and respectful representation of LGBTQ individuals. Over the years, GLAAD has expanded its efforts beyond just television and film, actively challenging harmful stereotypes, calling out discrimination, and pushing for meaningful change across digital platforms.

GLAAD’s 2025 SMSI report is a powerful call to action.

It exposes how major tech companies choose profit over people, ignoring their responsibility to protect users from harm. If social media companies do not act now, they will only deepen the crisis of online Hate with devastating real-world consequences. LGBTQ safety is not optional. It is critical. What do you think?

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