How to Be Safe on Social Media, Especially If You’re LGBTQ+
Enforcement of community standards on social media can be lax, research shows. But there are ways to take control of your feed.
Alok Vaid-Menon—a performance artist, author, speaker, poet, and comedian—is gender nonconforming, and embodies the movement to redefine beauty and fashion away from traditional masculine/feminine standards. Whether posing for a glossy magazine spread, for a photo to accompany a New York Times profile, or speaking onscreen in HBO’s documentary “The Trans List,” Vaid-Menon’s colorful attire defies categorization—and commands attention.
Photos, from left: Kohl Murdock, Instagram Photos, from left: Kohl Murdock, Instagram
Of course, you don’t have to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community to have faced online harassment. These days, social media platforms can feel like dumpster fires fueled by hate for differences of almost any kind, not just sexual orientation. But LGBTQ+ individuals face particular types and degrees of intolerance, according to several recent reports.
For example, a 2023 survey from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the anti-hate organization, found that LGBTQ+ and transgender respondents were more likely than any other group surveyed (African American, Asian American, Hispanic, Jewish, and Muslim) to say they had experienced online intimidation: 47 percent of LGBTQ+ respondents, 51 percent of transgender respondents, compared with 33 percent of “All American” respondents.
In another 2022 report, researchers at the media watchdog group Media Matters tracked activity on Facebook during LGBTQ+ Pride Month in June and found what it described as “baseless” and “dangerous rhetoric” about the LGBTQ+ community especially amplified across the platform at that time.
A third study, by the LGBTQ+ advocacy organization GLAAD, uncovered similar issues. Its 2023 Social Media Safety Index report evaluated five major social platforms—Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (now X), TikTok, and YouTube—and identified problems, including inadequate content moderation and enforcement of community standards on all of them. The group also found that 40 percent of LGBTQ+ adults and 49 percent of transgender and nonbinary people said they didn’t feel welcomed and safe on social media.
How to Limit Toxic Content Against LGBTQ+
Until social media platforms improve their content moderation and enforce their own policies better, there are steps you can take to make your feeds safer places to express yourself and enjoy postings from others.
Facebook (desktop browser)
To block a user: Go to their page > Click the three-dot menu icon near the top right of the profile > Choose “Block.”
To report a user or a group: Navigate to their page > Click the three-dot menu icon near the top right of the profile > “Report.”
Instagram (mobile app)
To block or report a user: Navigate to their profile > Tap the three-dot menu icon in the top right > Tap “Block” or “Report.”
YouTube (desktop browser)
To disable comments: Click the drop-down icon next to the “Comment visibility” section > select “Disable comments.”
To report a video: Click the menu button with three dots next to a video’s title > Click “Report.”
To report a channel: Open the channel’s page > About > Click the flag icon.
X (mobile app)
To unfollow, block, or report a user, or mute (keep certain topics out of your feed): Navigate to their profile > Open the menu in the top right > Select the action you want to take. (You can also do some of these functions from the menu in the top right of a particular tweet.)
To report a tweet: Open the menu in the top right of the tweet > Tap “Report Tweet.”
TikTok (mobile app)
To report a video: Tap and hold while the video is playing > Tap “Report.”
To block or report a user: Go to their profile > Open the three-dot menu in the top right > Tap “Block” or “Report.”
For more safety measures, see "How to Filter Hate Speech, Hoaxes, and Violent Clips Out of Your Social Feeds."
