More 1400 young activists participated in the survey conducted as a part of Amnesty International's global campaign to"Protect the Protest."They faced harassment in the form of hateful comments, threats, hacking and doxing which is often linked to offline abuse and political persecution often perpetrated by state actors with little or no response from Big Tech platforms resulting in the silencing of young people."I have been harassed by a stranger because of my pronouns.
"I always think twice before making a comment, when I express my political position, I start to get many comments that not only have to do with my position, but also with my body, my gender identity or my sexuality," said Sofía*, a 23-year-old human rights defender from Argentina shared her experience on X formerly known as Twitter.
Five percent of the young activists say they have faced online sexual harassment, too, reporting that users posted intimate images of them without consent. Abdul* a 23-year-old Afghan activist reported being denied work at a hospital after authorities found out about his social media activism. Twenty-one percent of respondents say they have been harassed in connection with their gender and twenty percent in connection with their race or ethnicity. Smaller percentages said they face abuse in connection with their socio-economic background, age, sexual orientation and/or disabilities.
Many of the young activists voiced frustrations over leading social media platforms' failure to adequately respond to their reports of harassment saying the abusive comments are left on the platforms long after being flagged.