Other Technology | July 5, 2023
Someone said that we would come out of the pandemic better. But reality is far from confirming this statement. This is evident in situations like the one we are going to discuss in this article, which show that we are clearly regressing in many aspects. One of them is the issue of hate speech, which is increasing year by year. Evidence of this is a study conducted by YouGov, which reveals that over half of teenagers have experienced some form of bullying or hate incidents online (social media, chats, forums, etc.). What is alarming is not just the figure itself, but the fact that this percentage was at 36% last year.
The study, conducted by YouGov with over 2,000 individuals in the United States, also reflects the increase in acts of hatred towards other groups of people. For instance, among adults, the percentage of users who admitted to receiving some form of attack through social media or other platforms rose to 33%, significantly higher than the 23% who reported such experiences last year.
However, if there is one group that experiences these situations predominantly, it is transgender individuals. Three-quarters of the respondents stated that they had experienced some form of harassment, while the percentage of LGBTQ+ individuals who had to face this situation approached half. With all these data, it becomes clear that there is a very dark side to the freedom and anonymity that the Internet (supposedly) offers. Just take a stroll through a social media platform like Twitter on any given day to discover the anger that emanates from too many tweets, sometimes without any justification or restraint. We should consider alternative ways to address this concerning reality that surrounds us.
