Advocacy group says major social media platforms failing LGBTQ+ users
Major social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter), are failing to adequately protect LGBTQ+ users from hate, harassment, and disinformation, according to the 2025 Social Media Safety Index released Tuesday by the LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD.
The annual report’s fifth edition, which evaluates the performance of major platforms on 14 LGBTQ-specific safety indicators and remains the most comprehensive benchmark of LGBTQ+ safety across major digital platforms, warns that platforms are not only neglecting their responsibilities but, in some cases, have actively weakened existing safety protocols. GLAAD specifically cited Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, YouTube, and X for draconian policy reversals that enable the spread of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and contribute to real-world harms.
In the report’s foreword, GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis said: “In many cases, platforms are inviting harm … They are prioritizing engagement and controversy over safety, especially for trans and nonbinary communities.”
TikTok received the highest score among evaluated platforms but still failed to provide full transparency or robust user control regarding LGBTQ content and privacy. X received the lowest score (just 30 out of 100) due to its reliance on self-reporting, limited policy enforcement, and lack of workforce diversity disclosures.
GLAAD emphasized that several companies rolled back policies that once protected LGBTQ+ users from targeted misgendering, deadnaming, and “conversion therapy” content. Meta, in particular, updated its “Hateful Conduct” policy to allow harmful rhetoric under the guise of political or religious expression, a move GLAAD condemned as “dangerous and dehumanizing.” YouTube also quietly removed “gender identity and expression” from its hate speech policy without public explanation.
The report underscored how such policy changes correlate with a documented rise in online hate and disinformation targeting LGBTQ+ individuals. GLAAD warned that these trends often lead to “offline consequences,” including violence and mental health impacts for marginalized users. The Index further found that legitimate LGBTQ+ content continues to be disproportionately suppressed through wrongful account removals, demonetization, and shadow-banning.
In response, GLAAD urged tech companies to restore and strengthen LGBTQ safety policies, improve moderator training across all languages and cultural contexts, and publish detailed enforcement and diversity data. The organization also called for collaboration with independent researchers to enhance transparency and accountability.
“Social media should be a space for connection and community, not a driver of discrimination,” Ellis said. “Platforms must act now to reverse course and prioritize the dignity, safety, and rights of LGBTQ people.”
With mounting attacks on LGBTQ+ human rights across the world, the LGBTQ+ community remains vulnerable. In April, Hungary’s National Assembly passed an amendment to the Fundamental Law of Hungary that bans LGBTQ+ public events. In February, Amnesty International denounced Tunisian authorities’ increased arrests of LGBTI individuals. The organization reported that at least 84 individuals, mostly gay men and transgender women, have been arrested since September 2024.
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International and Comparative SOGIESC Law - Professor Andreas R Ziegler 