Instagram 'systemically fails' to protect high-profile women from abuse, study finds – NBC News

Instagram “systemically fails” to protect high-profile women from the “epidemic” of misogynistic abuse through direct messages, a study published Wednesday suggests.The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit organization that aims to combat online harassment and misinformation, found that Instagram, which is owned by Meta, has been “negligent” in its response to misogynistic harassment. CCDH, which analyzed more than 8,700 messages from five high-profile women on the app, said the research shows “Instagram systematically fails to enforce appropriate sanctions and remove those who break its rules.” “Digital spaces provide increasingly important ways to maintain relationships, communicate and build personal brands,” CCDH Chief Executive Imran Ahmed said in a statement. “For women, however, the cost of admission to social media is misogynistic abuse and threats sent by abusers with impunity.” Study participants included actor Amber Heard, British broadcaster Rachel Riley, activist Jamie Klingler, journalist Bryony Gordon and founder of Burnt Roti magazine Sharan Dhaliwal, who have a total of 4.8 million followers on the platform. Riley described online abuse as “inevitable” for women. “For women in the public eye, receiving a constant stream of rude, inappropriate and even abusive messages to your DMs is unfortunately inevitable, and the fact that…
Read More