Extreme and violent anti-LGBTQ+ hate approved for publication by leading social media platforms
Test ads with extreme anti-LGBTQ+ hate were almost all approved: YouTube and TikTok approved all 10 ads, Facebook rejected only two, and all three approved the 'burn all gays' ad.
Executive summary
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Global Witness tested content moderation on Facebook, TikTok and YouTube by submitting ten advertisements containing extreme anti-LGBTQ+ hate speech in Ireland, drawn in part from real examples reported by Irish LGBTQ+ organizations. The ads were withdrawn before publication once accepted, so none were seen by the public.
YouTube and TikTok approved all ten submissions, while Facebook rejected only two, meaning the large majority of violently hateful ads cleared review across all three platforms. Content included comparisons of LGBTQ+ people to paedophiles, a call to "burn all gays," and incitement to violence against transgender women; all three platforms approved the "burn all gays" ad and one urging violence against transgender women.
The findings point to a substantial gap between platforms' stated hate-speech policies and their actual ad-review enforcement. Meta responded that such ads should not have been approved and noted the ads never went live, citing multiple layers of detection in its review process, while emphasizing the systems are imperfect.
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