Majority want restrictions on social media hate speech - survey

Hate comments, threats of violence and fake news: according to a survey conducted in 10 countries, published on Tuesday, most people would like to see this content restricted on social media.

Yet the majority of users also think that exposure to rudeness, intolerance or hatred on social media is unavoidable, according to the survey conducted by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) together with the University of Oxford.

"We are noticing widespread resignation," said Yannis Theocharis from the TUM, who led the study. "This acclimatization effect is a huge problem because it is gradually undermining societal norms and normalizing hate and violence," he said.

Social media was originally seen as a space that promotes the exchange of ideas and allows users to take on different – and in particular, contrary – perspectives, researchers say.

But, "there is no evidence that these platforms enable worrying levels of hate speech, mis- and disinformation, and societal division," they wrote in the study.

In autumn 2024, the researchers surveyed around 13,500 people in six European countries, as well as in the United States, Brazil, South Africa and Australia.

They found that almost four-fifths of those surveyed were in favour of posts inciting violence being deleted from social media. The highest approval for this was found in Germany, Brazil and Slovakia, at 86%. In the US, the figure was 63%, according to the analysis.