Our new report uncovers the extent to which British women and marginalized genders experience toxic and unsafe online spaces due to lack of safeguarding and responsibility by big tech firms.
KEY INFORMATION
● Date surveyed: 20.06.2023 – 22.06.2023
● 2,058 women and marginalised genders in the UK who use/have ever used social media.
KEY FINDINGS
● Over a third (37%) of gen-z and millennial women+ aged 16-34 feel unsafe online
● 3 in 10 (30%) women surveyed often* feel unsafe online.
● Two thirds (66%) of marginalised genders surveyed often* feel unsafe online, with a fifth (20%) said they feel unsafe very often.
● Over 2 in 5 (42%) respondents aged 16-24 often* feel unsafe online, compared to 1 in 6 (16%) of those aged 55+ who said the same.
● Over 2 in 5 (46%) LGBTQ+ respondents feel unsafe online, whereas just under 3 in 10 (29%) straight respondents said the same.
*‘Very often’ and ‘Fairly often’ answers combined.
*Those who feel unsafe online.
● Just over 2 in 5 (41%) respondents said the main reason they feel unsafe online is because of scammers.
● Almost a fifth (18%) of respondents said the main reason they feel unsafe online is because of leaving a digital footprint, data privacy.
● 1 in 8 (12%) respondents said the main reason they feel unsafe online is because of trolls: mean comments, being made fun of, verbal abuse.
● 1 in 10 (10%) respondents said the main reason they feel unsafe online is because of inappropriate DMs.
● 1 in 14 (7%) respondents said the main reason they feel unsafe online is because of doxing (sharing images, videos, or private information released without consent).
● Half (50%) of respondents aged 45-54 said the main reason they feel unsafe online is because of scammers, whilst just under 3 in 10 (29%) respondents aged 16-24 said the same.
● Just over 1 in 6 (17%) respondents aged 16-24 said the main reason they feel unsafe online is because of inappropriate DMs, whereas only 1 in 16 (6%) of those aged 45-54 said the same.
● Just under 1 in 4 (24%) LGBTQ+ respondents say the main reason they feel unsafe online is leaving a digital footprint and data privacy.
● Just under 3 in 10 (29%) respondents said they feel most unsafe on Facebook.
● Just over 1 in 8 (13%) respondents said they feel most unsafe on Instagram.
● Just over 1 in 8 (13%) respondents said they feel most unsafe on TikTok.
● 1 in 10 (10%) respondents said they feel most unsafe on Snapchat.
● 1 in 12 (8%) respondents said they feel most unsafe on Twitter.
● Just over a quarter (26%) of marginalised genders surveyed said they feel most unsafe on Twitter.
● Just over 2 in 5 (41%) respondents aged 55+ said they feel most unsafe on Facebook, whilst just over 1 in 7 (15%) respondents aged 16-24 said the same.
● Just under a fifth (19%) of respondents aged 16-24 said they feel most unsafe on Instagram, compared to only 3% of those aged 55+ who said the same.
● Almost 2 in 5 (38%) Black – African respondents said they feel most unsafe on Facebook, whereas just under a quarter (24%) of White – Any other White background respondents said the same.
● 2 in 5 (40%) gen-z & millennial women+ (aged 16-34 years old) agree with the statement ‘I am turning my back on mainstream social platforms due to safety concerns or toxic environments’.
● Over a third (35%) of respondents agree* with the statement ‘I am turning my back on mainstream social platforms due to safety concerns or toxic environments’, with 1 in 11 (9%) who strongly agree.
● Almost 2 in 5 (38%) respondents disagree** with the statement ‘I am turning my back on mainstream social platforms due to safety concerns or toxic environments’, with 1 in 7 (14%) who strongly disagree.
● Just over a third (34%) of women surveyed agree* with the statement ‘I am turning my back on mainstream social platforms due to safety concerns or toxic environments’.
● Two thirds (66%) of marginalised genders surveyed agree* with the statement ‘I am turning my back on mainstream social platforms due to safety concerns or toxic environments’.
● Over 2 in 5 (45%) respondents aged 16-24 agree* with the statement ‘I am turning my back on mainstream social platforms due to safety concerns or toxic environments’, compared to under a fifth (18%) of those aged 55+ who said the same.
● Just under 2 in 3 (60%) LGBTQ+ respondents agree* with the statement ‘I am turning my back on mainstream social platforms due to safety concerns or toxic environments’, whereas just over a third (34%) of straight respondents said the same.
*‘Strongly agree’ and ‘Somewhat agree’ answers combined.
**‘Somewhat disagree´ and ‘Strongly disagree’ answers combined.
● Over a third (36%) of respondents have been a victim of online abuse*, with 1 in 11 (9%) who said yes, in the last year and over a quarter (27%) who said yes, but over a year ago.
● Over a third (35%) of women surveyed have been a victim of online abuse*.
● Just under three quarters (74%) of marginalised genders surveyed have been a victim of online abuse*, with 3 in 10 (30%) who said yes, in the last year.
● Over half (52%) of respondents surveyed aged 16-24 have been a victim of online abuse*, whereas 1 in 9 (11%) respondents aged 55+ said the same.
● 2 in 5 (40%) Black – African respondents have been a victim of online abuse*, compared to just over a third (34%) of White – English / Welsh / Scottish / Northern Irish / British respondents who said the same.
● Almost 3 in 4 (73%) LGBTQ+ respondents have been a victim of online abuse*, whilst a third (33%) of straight respondents said the same.
*All ‘Yes’ answers combined.
*Those who have been a victim of online abuse.
● Over 3 in 5 (63%) respondents said they did report the abuse to the platform it was received on*, with almost 2 in 5 (38%) who said yes, and it was easy to report and a quarter (25%) who said yes, but they made it difficult to report.
● Over 3 in 10 (32%) respondents said they did not report the abuse to the platform it was received on**, with just under a quarter (24%) who said no, because it was difficult to report.
● A third (33%) of women surveyed said they did not report the abuse to the platform it was received on**, with a quarter (25%) who said no, because it was difficult to report.
*All ‘Yes’ answers combined.
**All ‘No’ answers combined.
Those who have been a victim of online abuse and reported the abuse to the platform it was received on.
● 3 in 10 (30%) respondents felt failed by the tech platform’s response towards the abuse they reported.
● 2 in 5 (40%) respondents felt satisfied by the tech platform’s response towards the abuse they reported.
● Almost a quarter (24%) of respondents felt neither satisfied nor failed by the tech platform’s response towards the abuse they reported.
● 1 in 20 (5%) respondents didn’t get a response from the tech platform towards the abuse they reported.
● Over 2 in 5 (46%) respondents aged 16-24 felt satisfied by the tech platform’s response towards the abuse they reported, whereas under 2 in 5 (34%) respondents aged 35-44 said the same.
● 2 in 5 (40%) respondents have* used or are using social media to find new friends.
● Almost 3 in 10 (28%) have been successful in finding new friends on social media.
● 3 in 5 (60%) respondents have not** used or are using social media to find new friends.
● Just over a fifth (21%) of respondents said they don’t feel comfortable trying to make new friends on mainstream platforms.
● Almost 2 in 5 (38%) respondents said they are not interested in making new friends on social media.
● Almost two thirds (65%) of respondents aged 16-24 have* used or are using social media to find new friends, whereas just over 1 in 6 (17%) respondents aged 55+ said the same.
● Almost 7 in 10 (69%) respondents aged 55+ said they are not interested in using social media to find new friends, whereas just over 1 in 6 (17%) respondents aged 16-24 said the same.
● Around half of White Irish (49%) and Black African (50%) respondents have been successful in finding new friends on social media, whereas under 3 in 10 White – English / Welsh / Scottish / Northern Irish / British (25%) and White – any other White Background (20%) said the same.
*’Yes, and I have been successful’ and ‘Yes, but I have not been successful yet’ responses combined
**’No, I’m not interested’, ‘No, I don’t feel comfortable trying on mainstream platforms’ and ‘No, other please specify’ responses combined
● Over half (52%) of respondents said they feel* like they cannot be their authentic self on mainstream socials like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc.
● Almost half (48%) of respondents said they do not feel** like they cannot be their authentic self on mainstream socials like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc.
● Almost two thirds (65%) of respondents aged 16-24 said they feel* like they cannot be their authentic self on mainstream socials like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc, whereas a quarter (25%) of respondents aged 55+ said the same.
● Over 3 in 5 (62%) White – any other White background respondents said they feel* like they cannot be their authentic self on mainstream socials like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc, whereas under half (47%) of Black – African respondents said the same.
*’Yes, often’ and ‘Yes sometimes’ responses combined
**’No, never’ and ‘No not really’ responses combined
● 1 in 16 (6%) respondents have been a victim of revenge porn.
● 1 in 9 (11%) respondents have not been a victim of revenge porn but they have been threatened with it before.
● 1 in 9 (11%) respondents aged 16-24 have been a victim of revenge porn, whereas 1% of those aged 55+ said the same.
● Just over 1 in 7 (15%) respondents aged 16-24 have not been a victim of revenge porn but have been threatened with it before, whereas 1 in 20 (5%) of those aged 55+ said the same.
● Just over 1 in 6 (17%) White Irish respondents have been a victim of revenge porn, whereas 1 in 25 (4%) White – any other White background respondents said the same.
*’No, I haven’t’ and ‘No, but I have been threatened with it before’ responses combined.
● A quarter (25%) of respondents said they experience predatory behaviour or unwanted contact on social media often*.
● 1 in 16 (6%) respondents said they experience predatory behaviour or unwanted contact on social media very often.
● Almost a fifth (19%) of respondents said they experience predatory behaviour or unwanted contact on social media quite often.
● Over 2 in 5 (43%) respondents said they experience predatory behaviour or unwanted contact on social media not very often.
● Just over 3 in 10 (31%) respondents said they never experience predatory behaviour or unwanted contact on social media .
● Over 2 in 5 (42%) respondents aged 16-24 said they experience predatory behaviour or unwanted contact on social media often*, whereas 1 in 10 (10%) respondents aged 55+ said the same.
● Almost 2 in 5 (39%) White Irish respondents said they experience predatory behaviour or unwanted contact on social media often*, whereas just over a fifth (21%) of White English / Welsh / Scottish / Northern Irish / British respondents said the same.
*’Very often’ and ‘Quite often’ responses combined
● Just over a third (34%) of respondents have* been a victim of cyberflashing.
● 1 in 8 (12%) respondents have been a victim of cyberflashing once.
● Over a fifth (22%) of respondents have been a victim of cyberflashing multiple times.
● Over 3 in 5 (63%) respondents have not been a victim of cyberflashing.
● Almost half (47%) of respondents aged 16-24 have* been a victim of cyberflashing, followed by those aged 25-34 (45%), 35-44 (27%). 45-54 (16%) and those aged 55+ (10%) are least likely to say the same.
● Half (50%) of Black – African respondents have* been a victim of cyberflashing, whereas just over a quarter (26%) of White Irish respondents said the same.
*’Yes, once’ and ‘Yes, multiple times’ responses combined.
● Over 3 in 5 (62%) of respondents agree* words like vulva, period and clitoris should not be banned on social media.
● Over a third (36%) of respondents strongly agree words like vulva, period and clitoris should not be banned on social media.
● Just over 1 in 7 (15%) respondents disagree** words like vulva, period and clitoris should not be banned on social media.
● Over 7 in 10 (72%) respondents aged 16-24 agree* words like vulva, period and clitoris should not be banned on social media, whereas just under a third (32%) of respondents aged 55+ said the same.
● Almost two thirds (64%) of White – English / Welsh / Scottish / Northern Irish / British respondents agree* words like vulva, period and clitoris should not be banned on social media, whereas half (50%) of Black – African respondents said the same.
*’Strongly agree’ and ‘Somewhat agree’ responses combined
**’Strongly disagree’ and ‘Somewhat agree’ responses combined
● Just over 3 in 10 (31%) respondents would rate the current efforts of large social platforms in protecting the safety of their users as good*, whilst 1 in 6 (16%) would rate the efforts as bad**.
● Over half (54%) of respondents would rate the current efforts of large social platforms in protecting the safety of their users as mediocre.
● Respondents aged 45-54 are most likely across the age groups to rate the current efforts of large social platforms in protecting the safety of their users as bad** (21%), whilst respondents aged 16-24 are the least likely (12%).
*’Very good’ and ‘good’ answers combined.
**’Very bad’ and ‘bad’ answers combined.
● 4 in 5 (80%) respondents said it’s important* to them to have access to a safe space for women and marginalised genders online, compared to only a fifth (20%) who said it’s not** important.
● Younger age groups such as those aged 16-24 (84%) and 25-34 (83%) are more likely than older age groups such as those aged 45-54 (74%) and 55+ (74%) to say it’s important* to them to have access to a safe space for women and marginalised genders online.
● Over 9 in 10 (91%) Black – African respondents said it’s important* to them to have access to a safe space for women and marginalised genders online, compared to just under 4 in 5 (79%) White – English / Welsh / Scottish / Northern Irish / British respondents who said the same.
*’Very important’ and ‘quite important’ answers combined.
**’Not very important’ and ‘not important at all’ answers combined.
● Less than 3 in 10 (27%) respondents said when it comes to their understanding and knowledge of what a digital footprint, they understand the meaning and fully know how it affects them.
● Over half (51%) of respondents said while they understand the meaning of digital footprint, they do not fully know how it affects them.
● Almost a fifth (18%) of respondents admit they don’t really understand the meaning of digital footprint, although have heard the phrase and a further 1 in 25 (4%) admit they don’t know or understand what a digital footprint is.
● A quarter (25%) of respondents aged 55+ admit they don’t really understand the meaning of digital footprint, although have heard the phrase, compared to just under 1 in 7 (13%) respondents aged 16-24 who said the same.
● A third (33%) of respondents have considered* cosmetic surgery as a result of being on social media, with 1 in 20 (5%) saying they have had it because of it.
● Just under two thirds (65%) of respondents have not considered cosmetic surgery as a result of being on social media.
● Respondents aged 16-24 are around 13x more likely than respondents aged 55+ to have considered* cosmetic surgery as a result of being on social media (51% vs 4%).
● Over 2 in 5 (46%) White – Irish respondents have considered* cosmetic surgery as a result of being on social media, compared to just over a quarter (26%) Black – African respondents who said the same.
● Over half (59%) of LGBTQ+l respondents have considered* cosmetic surgery as a result of being on social media, compared to just under a third (32%) of Straight respondents who said the same.
*All ‘yes’ answers combined.
● Over half (55%) of respondents said* social media makes them less confident in their life choices.
● Just over 1 in 7 (15%) respondents said social media often makes them less confident in their life choices and 2 in 5 (40%) said it sometimes does.
● Over 7 in 10 (72%) respondents aged 16-24 said* social media makes them less confident in their life choices, compared to 1 in 7 (14%) respondents aged 55+ who said the same.
● Over half (56%) of White – English / Welsh / Scottish / Northern Irish / British respondents said* social media makes them less confident in their life choices, compared to under 2 in 5 (35%) Black – African respondents who said the same.
● Over 4 in 5 (85%) LGBTQ+ respondents said* social media makes them less confident in their life choices, whilst over half (54%) of Straight respondents said the same.
*All ‘yes’ answers combined.
● Almost 3 in 10 (29%) respondents have* had a partner control or try to control their digital interactions.
● 1 in 9 (11%) respondents have had a partner who took control of their digital interactions, whilst almost a fifth (18%) said they have had a partner who tried.
● Just over 2 in 5 (41%) respondents aged 16-24 have* had a partner control or try to control their digital interactions, compared to 1 in 12 (8%) respondents aged 55+ who said the same.
● Almost half (49%) of White – Irish respondents have* had a partner control or try to control their digital interactions, compared to just over a quarter (26%) of White – English / Welsh / Scottish / Northern Irish / British respondents who said the same.
● Just under 2 in 3 (61%) LGBTQ+ respondents have* had a partner control or try to control their digital interactions, compared to under 3 in 10 (27%) Straight respondents who said the same.
*All ‘yes’ answers combined.
● Respondents are almost twice as likely to say social media has negatively* impacted women’s lives than say it has positively** impacted it (44% vs 23%).
● Half (50%) of respondents aged 25-34 say social media has negatively* impacted women’s lives, compared to just under 2 in 5 (39%) respondents aged 55+ who said the same.
● Almost half (48%) White – English / Welsh / Scottish / Northern Irish / British respondents say social media has negatively* impacted women’s lives, compared to just over a quarter (26%) White – Irish respondents who said the same.
*’Somewhat negatively impacted’ and ‘Very negatively impacted’ answers combined.
**’Somewhat positively impacted’ and ‘Very positively impacted’ answers combined. ENDS
For full report, more information or comment, please contact: melissa@axeandsaw.com
