While there is a growing dependence on digital platforms for social interactions and entertainment, the increasing trend brings with it some issues as well, such as scroll addiction, especially among young users, and harassment due to a lack of accountability and users taking more liberty in engaging in online threats or abuse. When it comes to the widely used apps, it seems that Facebook is the worst when it comes to online abuse due to the cases of harassment that have come forward, as per a global activist survey.
Regulatory authorities and activists around the world are getting more involved in raising awareness on the negative impacts of social media platforms and the underlying issues they bring about. Such has been the case with Meta lately, as there is more awareness and concern regarding the online harassment that users tend to face on the platform. According to a survey by Global Witness, a non-profit organization that also monitors violence against environmental defenders, about 90 percent of the surveyed people had faced some kind of harassment related to their activism on Meta’s platforms.
Among the social media apps mentioned, Facebook is the worst ranked in terms of online abuse, followed by X, WhatsApp and Instagram. The harassment is usually directed towards activists who receive threatening messaging, often as extreme as death threats. Frequently, demeaning language is used in order to stop those being vocal, and false information is spread against them to silence them. Global Witness has joined with many other activists to bring this concern to Meta and urge the tech giant and other companies to take strict measures to combat this issue.
The situation is more grave considering how often the digital abuse experienced overlaps with the real-life harm faced, as the survey further revealed that more than 70 percent of the people surveyed believed that the harassment they faced online led to the threats they encountered in the real world. Global Witness conducted a survey from November 2024 to March 2025 of around 200 land environmental defenders, and the results were alarming, with Meta’s platform being called the worst of them all. The survey results revealed that more than 50 percent of the participants faced harassment on Facebook, about 36 percent on WhatsApp, and about 20 percent on Instagram. Social apps are meant to be a communication tool, but are being used for all the wrong reasons, such as intimidating individuals and stopping them from voicing their concerns.
Global Witness is pushing these social media companies to act on their platforms by introducing regulatory steps such as content moderation and regularly reviewing whether the system is effective. The activists also highlighted the role of algorithms in further worsening the problem and how there is a dire need for reformation to combat widespread abuse.