Stories about online harassment have captured headlines for years. Beyond the more severe cases of sustained, aggressive abuse that make the news, name-calling and belittling, derisive comments have come to characterize how many view discourse online – especially in the political realm.

A Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults in September finds that 41% of Americans have personally experienced some form of online harassment in at least one of the six key ways that were measured. And while the overall prevalence of this type of abuse is the same as it was in 2017, there is evidence that online harassment has intensified since then.

To begin with, growing shares of Americans report experiencing more severe forms of harassment, which encompasses physical threats, stalking, sexual harassment and sustained harassment. Some 15% experienced such problems in 2014 and a slightly larger share (18%) said the same in 2017.¹ That group has risen to 25% today. Additionally, those who have been the target of online abuse are more likely today than in 2017 to report that their most recent experience involved more varied types and more severe forms of online abuse.

In a political environment where Americans are stressed and frustrated and antipathy has grown, online venues often serve as platforms for highly contentious or even extremely offensive political debate. And for those who have experienced online abuse, politics is cited as the top reason for why they think they were targeted.

Indeed, 20% of Americans overall – representing half of those who have been harassed online – say they have experienced online harassment because of their political views. This is a notable increase from three years ago, when 14% of all Americans said they had been targeted for this reason. Beyond politics, more also cite their gender or their racial and ethnic background as reasons why they believe they were harassed online.

While these kinds of negative encounters may occur anywhere online, social media is by far the most common venue cited for harassment – a pattern consistent across the Center’s work over the years on this topic. The latest survey finds that 75% of targets of online abuse – equaling 31% of Americans overall – say their most recent experience was on social media.

As online harassment permeates social media, the public is highly critical of the way these companies are tackling the issue. Fully 79% say social media companies are doing an only fair or poor job at addressing online harassment or bullying on their platforms.

But even as social media companies receive low ratings for handling abuse on their sites, a minority of Americans back the idea of holding these platforms legally responsible for harassment that happens on their sites. Just 33% of Americans say that people who have experienced harassment or bullying on social media sites should be able to sue the platforms on which it occurred.

These are some of the key findings from a nationally representative survey of 10,093 U.S. adults conducted online Sept. 8 to 13, 2020, using Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel. The following are among the major findings.

41% of U.S. adults have personally experienced online harassment, and 25% have experienced more severe harassment

On a broad level, Americans agree that online harassment is a problem plaguing digital spaces. Roughly nine-in-ten Americans say people being harassed or bullied online is a problem, including 55% who consider it a major problem.

Many Americans have also had their own experience with being targeted online. While about four-in-ten Americans (41%) have experienced some form of online harassment, growing shares have faced more severe and multiple forms of harassment. For example, in 2014, 15% of Americans said they had been subjected to more severe forms of online harassment. That share is now 25%. There has also been a double-digit increase in those experiencing multiple types of online abuse – rising from 16% to 28% since 2014. This number is also up since 2017, when 19% of Americans had experienced multiple forms of harassing behaviors online.

Many individual types of behaviors are on the rise as well. The shares of Americans who say they have been called an offensive name, purposefully embarrassed or physically threatened while online have all risen since 2014. However, the share who have experienced any of the less severe behaviors is largely on par with that of 2017 (37% in 2020 vs. 36% in 2017).

A majority of younger adults have encountered harassment online

Online harassment is a particularly common feature of online life for younger adults, and they are especially prone to facing harassing behaviors that are more serious. Roughly two-thirds of adults under 30 (64%) have experienced any form of the online harassment activities measured in this survey – making this the only age group in which a majority have been subjected to these behaviors. Still, about half of 30- to 49-year-olds have been the target of online harassment, while smaller shares of those ages 50 and older (26%) have encountered at least one of these harassing activities.

A similar pattern is present when looking at those who have faced more severe forms of online abuse: 48% of 18- to 29-year-olds have been targeted online with more severe behaviors, compared with 32% of those ages 30 to 49 and just 12% of those 50 and older.

Gender also plays a role in the types of harassment people are likely to encounter online. Overall, men are somewhat more likely than women to say they have experienced any form of harassment online (43% vs. 38%), but similar shares of men and women have faced more severe forms of this kind of abuse. There are also differences across individual types of online harassment in the types of negative incidents they have personally encountered online. Some 35% of men say they have been called an offensive name versus 26% of women, and being physically threatened online is more common occurrence for men rather than women (16% vs. 11%).

Women, on the other hand, are more likely than men to report having been sexually harassed online (16% vs. 5%) or stalked (13% vs. 9%). Young women are particularly likely to have experienced sexual harassment online. Fully 33% of women under 35 say they have been sexually harassed online, while 11% of men under 35 say the same.

Lesbian, gay or bisexual adults are particularly likely to face harassment online. Roughly seven-in-ten have encountered any harassment online and fully 51% have been targeted for more severe forms of online abuse. By comparison, about four-in-ten straight adults have endured any form of harassment online, and only 23% have undergone any of the more severe behaviors.

While men are somewhat more likely than women to experience harassment online, women are more likely to be upset about it and think it is a major problem. Some 61% of women say online harassment is a major problem, while 48% of men agree. In addition, women who have been harassed online are more than twice as likely as men to say they were extremely or very upset by their most recent encounter (34% vs. 14%). Conversely, 61% of men who have been harassed online say they were not at all or a little upset by their most recent incident, while 36% of women said the same. Overall, 24% of those who have experienced online harassment say that their most recent incident was extremely (10%) or very (14%) upsetting.

One-in-five adults report being harassed online for their political views

Those who have been harassed were then asked whether they believed certain personal characteristics – political views, gender, race or ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation – played a role in the attacks. Fully 20% of all adults – or 50% of online harassment targets – say they have been harassed online because of their political views. At the same time, 14% of U.S. adults (33% of people who have been harassed online) say they have been harassed based on their gender, while 12% say this occurred because of their race or ethnicity (29% of online harassment targets). Smaller shares point to their religion or their sexual orientation as a reason for their harassment.

Each of these reasons has risen since the Center last asked these questions in 2017. There have been 6 percentage point increases in the shares of Americans attributing their harassment to their political views as well as gender. Race or ethnicity, sexual orientation and religion each saw a modest rise since 2017.

There are several demographic differences regarding who has been harassed online for their gender or their race or ethnicity. Among adults who have been harassed online, roughly half of women (47%) say they think they have encountered harassment online because of their gender, whereas 18% of men who have been harassed online say the same. Similarly, about half or more Black (54%) or Hispanic online harassment targets (47%) say they were harassed due to their race or ethnicity, compared with 17% of White targets.

While small shares overall say their harassment was due to their sexual orientation, 50% of lesbian, gay or bisexual adults who have been harassed online say they think it occurred because of their sexual orientation.² By comparison, only 12% of straight online harassment targets say the same. Lesbian, gay or bisexual online harassment targets are also more likely to report having encountered harassment online because of their gender (54%) compared with their straight counterparts (31%).

Men and White adults who have been harassed online are particularly likely to say this harassment was a result of their political views. Harassed men are a full 15 percentage points more likely than their female counterparts to cite political views as the reason they were harassed online (57% vs. 42%). Similarly, White online harassment targets are 18 points more likely than Black or Hispanic targets to point to their political views as the reason they were targeted for abuse online.

And while there are some partisan differences in citing political views as the perceived catalyst for facing harassment, these differences do not hold when accounting for race and ethnicity. For example, White Democrats and Republicans, including independents who lean toward each respective party, who have been harassed are about equally likely to say their political views were the reason they were harassed (55% vs. 57%).

Most online harassment targets say their most recent experience occurred on social media

As was true in previous Center surveys about online harassment, social media continue to be the most commonly cited online venues where harassment takes place. When asked where their most recent experience with online harassment occurred, 75% of targets of this type of abuse say it happened on social media.

By comparison, much smaller shares of this group mention online forums or discussion sites (25%) or texting or messaging apps (24%) as the location where their most recent experience occurred, while about one-in-ten or more cite online gaming, their personal email account or a dating site or app. In total, 41% of targets of online harassment say their most recent experience of harassment spanned more than one venue.

While social media are the most commonly cited online spaces for both men and women to say they have been harassed, women who have been harassed online are more likely than men to say their most recent experience was on social media (a 13 percentage point gap). On the other hand, men are more likely than women to report their most recent experience occurred while they were using an online forum or discussion site or while online gaming (both with a 13-point gap).

Most Americans are critical of how social media companies address online harassment; only a minority say users should be able to hold sites legally responsible

While most Americans feel that harassment and bullying are a problem online, the way to address this issue remains up for debate. The policies used to combat harassment and the transparency in reporting how content is being moderated vary drastically across online platforms. Social media companies have been highly criticized for their current tactics in addressing harassment, with advocates saying these companies should be doing more.

The public is similarly critical of social media companies. When asked to rate how well these companies are addressing online harassment or bullying on their platforms, just 18% say social media companies are doing an excellent or good job. Much larger shares – roughly eight-in-ten – say these companies are doing an only fair or poor job.

Despite most Americans being critical of the job social media companies are doing to address harassment, some are optimistic about a variety of possible solutions asked about in the survey that could be enacted to combat online harassment.

About half of Americans say permanently suspending users if they bully or harass others (51%) or requiring users of these platforms to disclose their real identities (48%) would be very effective in helping to reduce harassment or bullying on social media.

Around four-in-ten say criminal charges for users who bully or harass (43%) or social media companies proactively deleting bullying or harassing posts (40%) would be very effective.

Temporary bans are deemed the least effective solution about which respondents were asked. A third (32%) of Americans say users getting temporarily suspended if they bully or harass others would be a very effective measure against harassment. When it comes to holding social media companies accountable for the harassment on their platforms, few think personal lawsuits should be the solution. A third of adults say people who have been bullied or harassed by others on social media should be able to sue the platforms where the harassment occurred, whereas a much larger share – 63% – believe targets of online abuse should not be able to bring legal action against social media sites.

Online harassment is a nuanced and complex topic that can involve a multitude of behaviors. This chapter explores Americans’ experiences with six broad types of harassing behaviors, ranging from being called a bad name or purposefully embarrassed to being physically threatened or stalked, in order to capture a broad range of experiences. Overall, the survey shows that the share of U.S. adults who report experiencing any form of online harassment is similar to that found in the Center’s 2017 study. But there are differences when it comes to the shares of adults who have experienced each of the individual harassing behaviors and the shares who have experienced more severe forms of harassment. This chapter also explores the reasons why people think they were targeted for this online abuse. Political views are the most common reason cited overall, but notable demographic differences underlie the reasons people named.

Roughly four-in-ten Americans have personally experienced online harassment

Overall, 41% of Americans have experienced some form of online harassment measured in the latest survey, which is identical to the share who had been the target of online abuse in 2017 and a slight uptick from the 35% in 2014 when the Center first polled on this topic.

As was true in previous surveys, less severe forms of online abuse – name-calling and purposeful embarrassment – are the most common types of negative experiences reported. Some 31% say they have been called an offensive name online, while 26% report having had someone try to purposefully embarrass them.

At the same time, about one-in-ten or more say they have experienced more severe forms of harassment online, such as being physically threatened (14%), stalked (11%), sexually harassed (11%) or harassed for a sustained period of time (11%).

The share of Americans who say they have experienced at least one of the more severe forms of harassment has been on the rise. One-quarter of adults say they’ve been the target of at least one of these severe forms of online abuse, a share that has increased in each of the Center’s surveys on the issue (from 18% in 2017 and 15% in 2014). Conversely, the share who have experienced either of the less severe behaviors is largely on par with that of 2017 (37% in 2020 vs. 36% in 2017).

Experience with certain types of online abuse varies by age, gender, race or ethnicity

Younger adults are more likely to report having experienced harassment in general as well as more severe forms of harassment. Roughly two-thirds of adults under 30 (64%) say they have experienced any form of online harassment, and 48% say they have faced at least one type of more severe harassment. Roughly half of 30- to 49-year-olds report that they have faced harassment online, while about a third (32%) say they have experienced at least one of the more severe types of harassment. By comparison, much smaller shares of adults 50 and older say the same (26% and 12%, respectively).

Across all six types of online harassment measured in the survey, younger adults are more likely to have been the target of these behaviors online. Fully 51% of adults ages 18 to 29 say they have been called an offensive name online, compared with 37% of those 30 to 49 and 18% of those 50 and older. While very small shares of adults ages 50 and older say they have been physically threatened, sexually harassed, stalked or harassed for a sustained period of time, one-in-five or more adults under 30 and roughly one-in-ten or more adults 30 to 49 have been the target of these behaviors online.

Gender also plays a role in the types of harassment people are likely to encounter online. Overall, men are somewhat more likely than women to say they have experienced any form of harassment online (43% vs. 38%). There are also differences across individual types of negative incidents they have personally encountered online.

To begin with, more men than women say they were called an offensive name (35% vs. 26%) or physically threatened (16% vs. 11%). Women, on the other hand, are more likely than men to report having been sexually harassed online (16% vs. 5%), with young women being particularly likely to have experienced sexual harassment. A third of women under 35 (33%) report having been sexually harassed online, compared with 11% of men under 35. The percentage of women who report having been sexually harassed online has doubled since the Center last asked in early 2017, from 8% to 16%. However, this data cannot parse the reasons as to why this increase has occurred.

Women are more likely than men to report being stalked online (13% vs. 9%), but this difference is more modest in comparison to the difference seen for sexual harassment.

Regardless of differences on individual behaviors, there are no gender differences overall when it comes to having experienced any more severe behaviors.

There are also racial and ethnic differences in people’s experiences with online harassment. About half of Hispanic adults say they have been harassed online, compared with 40% of White adults and 37% of Black adults. (There are no statistical differences between Asian and Hispanic adults.)³

Moreover, Hispanic Americans experience many types of harassment at higher rates than other racial or ethnic groups. In general, Hispanics (33%) are more likely to say they have faced more severe harassment online compared with White (23%), Black (25%) or Asian adults (24%). Specifically, the share of Hispanic adults who report that they have been sexually harassed online is greater than any other racial or ethnic group. They are also more likely to experience being stalked or purposefully embarrassed online compared with Black or White adults. In addition, Hispanic adults are at a somewhat greater likelihood of reporting having been physically threatened than their White or Asian counterparts. About a third of Hispanic (33%) and White adults (31%) say they have been called an offensive name, whereas 23% of Asian adults say the same. The share of Black adults who were called an offensive name did not differ from any of the other racial or ethnic groups.

But in the case of sustained harassment, people’s experiences are somewhat similar across groups. Roughly one-in-ten from each racial or ethnic group say they have undergone harassment for a sustained period of time.

Half of online harassment targets – or one-in-five Americans overall – think the experience was due to their political views

Americans cite a variety of reasons why they encountered harassment online. Half of people who have experienced online harassment (equaling 20% of Americans overall) think they were harassed because of their political views – making this the most common reason cited among the five characteristics asked about in this survey.

At the same time, one-third of those who have been the target of online harassment (14% of all adults) say they have been harassed based on their gender, while 29% say this occurred because of their race or ethnicity (12% of all adults). Smaller shares point to their religion (19% of online harassment targets, representing 8% of U.S. adults overall) or their sexual orientation as a reason for their harassment (16% of online harassment targets, or 7% of all adults).

Each of these reasons has grown more common since the Center last asked these questions in 2017. There has been a 15 percentage point increase in the share of online harassment targets attributing their harassment to their political views; gender has seen a similar rise of 14 points. Race or ethnicity, sexual orientation and religion also rose since 2017.

There are some demographic differences in who points to politics as the reason they were harassed. Indeed, men who have been harassed online are 15 points more likely than women who have been targeted to say this was a result of their political views (57% vs. 42%). There are also large racial and ethnic gaps in citing politics as a perceived catalyst for their abuse: 56% of White adults who have been harassed online say this, compared with 38% each of Black or Hispanic targets.

And while there are some partisan differences, these differences do not hold when accounting for race and ethnicity. For example, White Democrats and Republicans (including independents who lean toward each party) who have been harassed are about equally likely to say their political views were the reason they were harassed (55% vs. 57%). Harassed non-White Democrats and Republicans differ little in believing their harassment experiences were due to politics (39% vs. 43%).

Despite politics being the top-cited reason overall, male (57%) and White online harassment targets (56%) are particularly likely to think their political views were the reason for their online harassment – especially White men (61%). Other groups commonly point to other elements of their identity as the reason they faced harassment online. Roughly half of women who have been harassed online say it was due to their gender, compared with 18% of their male counterparts. Among those who’ve been harassed online, Black (54%) or Hispanic adults (47%) are far more likely than White adults (17%) to identify their race or ethnicity as a reason they were harassed.⁴

While small shares overall say their harassment was due to their sexual orientation, 50% of online harassment targets who are lesbian, gay or bisexual say they have been harassed online because of their sexual orientation. By comparison, only 12% of straight online harassment targets say the same.

The reason people give for why they were harassed also differs based on the types of harassing behaviors they have experienced. For example, two-thirds (67%) of targets who were sexually harassed say it was due to their gender. Similarly, 53% of people who have been stalked online report gender as a reason they were harassed.

In general, 45% of people who have experienced any of the more severe forms of harassment say their gender contributed to their harassment, while 14% of those who have experienced only less severe behaviors say the same. People who have undergone more severe forms of harassment are also more likely to attribute their experiences to their race or ethnicity (34%) or their sexual orientation (22%), compared with people who have faced only less severe forms of harassment (22% and 7%, respectively). Conversely, people who have dealt only with less severe forms of harassment are more likely to say their experiences were a result of their political views, compared with those who had gone through more severe harassment (58% vs. 44%).

In order to gain a more detailed understanding of the daily realities of online harassment, the 41% of adults who have been targeted online were asked a series of questions about their most recent experience. These questions cover everything from the behaviors involved to how upsetting they may have found the experience.

This new survey finds some similarities between the recent experiences now and those in the past. To begin with, social media sites remain the most common venue for this type of online abuse, while name-calling continues to be the most commonly reported form of online abuse. About a third say they experienced more severe behaviors or multiple harassing behaviors. Still, roughly a third say they do not consider what happened to them to be online harassment.

About a third of online harassment targets say their most recent experience involved more severe forms of harassment

Among the 41% of Americans who report ever being harassed online, 73% say their most recent experience involved at least one less severe behavior, while about a third (34%) report at least one of the more severe behaviors was involved in the most recent incident. About three-in-ten say their most recent experience involved two or more of the behaviors they were asked about.

Some 54% of adults who report having personally experienced online harassment say they were called an offensive name in their most recent experience, while 39% of this group reports being purposefully embarrassed. On the other hand, more severe behaviors – such as being physically threatened, sexually harassed, stalked or harassed for a sustained period of time – are less commonly cited as occurring in their most recent experience.

Among people who have been harassed online, adults under 30 years old (32%) are less likely than those in older age groups to say their most recent experience involved someone trying to intentionally embarrass them.

Conversely, younger online harassment targets are more likely to report their most recent experience involved more severe forms of harassment. Specifically, adults under 50 are more likely than adults 50 and older to say their most recent experience involved physical threats (17% vs. 8%), sexual harassment (16% vs. 7%) or stalking (15% vs. 6%). While similar shares of adults ages 18 to 29 and 30 to 49 report experiencing each of the more severe behaviors, adults 65 and older who have experienced online harassment differ from those 50 to 64 in being less likely to report encountering physical threats, stalking or sustained harassment in their most recent experience.

About six-in-ten White online harassment targets (57%) say they were called an offensive name in their most recent experience, compared with approximately half of Hispanic harassment targets (48%). Hispanic (20%) or Black (17%) adults who have experienced online harassment are about twice as likely as their White counterparts (9%) to say they were stalked in their most recent online harassment experience.

Social media sites are the most common location for online harassment

Three-quarters of Americans who have been the target of online harassment say that their most recent experience occurred on social media – making this the only venue measured in this survey that a majority cited as being a location where their most recent online abuse took place.

By comparison, roughly one-quarter of this group mentions online forums or discussion sites (25%) or texting or messaging apps (24%) as the location where their most recent experience occurred. Smaller shares say their most recent experience occurred during an online game, in their personal email account or on a dating site or app (10%). In total, 41% say their most recent experience of harassment spanned multiple platforms.

Looking back to 2017, most of these online spaces have seen an increase in people saying their most recent harassment occurred there. Social media are up 17 percentage points, and online forums or discussion sites are up 18 points since 2017. The share who say their most recent experience occurred on a texting or messaging app was up 10 points, from 15% in 2017 to 24% in 2020. Smaller increases were seen in the shares who mention online gaming (5 points) or dating sites or apps (5 points).

There are also some gender differences in where people report encountering this type of harassment in their most recent episode. While social media is the most commonly cited online space for both men and women to say they’ve been harassed, women who have been harassed online are more likely than men to say their most recent experience was on social media (a 13 percentage point gap). On the other hand, men are more likely to report their most recent experience was while using an online forum or discussion site or while online gaming (both with a 13-point gap).

There are no statistically significant differences by gender when it comes to being harassed via texting or messaging apps or in personal email accounts. Among adults under 35, women (12%) and men (13%) who have been harassed are equally likely to say their most recent harassment occurred on an online dating site or app. But when looking at harassed parties 35 and older, women are marginally more likely to have been harassed while online dating than their male counterparts (10% vs. 6%).

Younger adults who have been harassed online are also more to say their most recent encounter was while online gaming. Three-in-ten online harassment targets ages 18 to 29 say their most recent experience was while online gaming, compared with 14% of online harassment targets who are 30 to 49. Even smaller shares of targets ages 50 to 64 or 65 and older say the same.

Among adults who say they have faced online harassment in the past, adults under 50 are about twice as likely as those ages 50 to 64 to say their most recent experience was on an online dating site or app. This was the case for only 3% of online harassment targets 65 and older. In addition, adults under 50 who have faced online harassment are more likely to report that their most recent experience with online harassment took place on a texting or messaging app compared with adults 50 and older (28% vs. 15%).

Similarly, Black or Hispanic online harassment targets are more likely to report their most recent experience involved a texting or messaging app (31% and 34%) or their personal email account (16% and 15%), compared with 20% of White targets who say their most recent experience took place on a texting or messaging app and 8% who report their experience involved email. In addition, about a quarter of Black adults who have been harassed online (23%) point to online dating sites or apps as where their most recent encounter occurred, while about one-in-ten White (7%) or Hispanic online harassment targets (11%) say the same.

Roughly a quarter of online harassment targets say their most recent experience was very or extremely upsetting

Just as online harassment exists along a spectrum of severity, those who have encountered some form of harassment feel its impact in various ways. While only a minority of those who have experienced online harassment say that their most recent incident was extremely (10%) or very (14%) upsetting, some groups – particularly women –are especially likely to find these incidents troubling.

Women who have been harassed online are more than twice as likely as men to say they were extremely or very upset by their most recent encounter (34% vs. 14%). They were also more likely to say this experience was somewhat upsetting (30% vs. 24%). Conversely, about six-in-ten men who have been harassed online (61%) say they were not at all or a little upset by their most recent incident, while 36% of women said the same.

While racial and ethnic differences are not as common, Black or Hispanic online harassment targets are about twice as likely as White targets to say their most recent harassment experience was extremely upsetting (15% vs. 8%).

The type of harassment people experienced in their most recent encounter plays an important role in how upsetting they found the experience to be. Overall, 36% of those who reported any of the more severe behaviors as being involved in their most recent experience say that this experience was extremely (18%) or very upsetting (18%), while only 17% of those who only faced less severe behaviors say the same.

Additionally, those targeted by online abuse who report that their most recent incident involved multiple harassing behaviors are more likely to report greater distress than those who faced just one type of harassment. About four-in-ten of this group who dealt with multiple forms of harassment in their most recent experience say they were at least very upset by this incident, and 19% say it was extremely upsetting. Meanwhile, 17% of those who only encountered one type of harassment in their most recent incident report they were at least very upset, and only 6% say it was extremely upsetting.

36% of people who encountered harassment online would not personally call their most recent experience ‘online harassment’

While this report uses a broad definition of harassment – from name-calling and purposeful embarrassment to stalking and physical threats, people’s own definition of online harassment may differ. Previous Center research has shown that online harassment can be very subjective, with people who face the same behaviors differing in whether to label it as “online harassment.”

Some 43% of online harassment targets say they consider their most recent experience to be “online harassment,” while 36% say they do not call their experience “online harassment.” Another 21% feel unsure of whether they would consider what happened to them to be “online harassment.” The share of people who label their experience “online harassment” is growing, up 7 percentage points since 2017.

Among those who have been the target of online harassment, women are more likely than men to say they consider their most recent experience to be “online harassment” (50% vs. 36%). Conversely, a greater share of men who have been harassed online say they do not consider their most recent experience to be “online harassment,” compared with women (43% vs. 28%).

In addition, Black (54%) or Hispanic online harassment targets (47%) are more likely to label their experience as “online harassment,” compared with White harassment targets (40%). On the other hand, a greater share of White targets say they don’t see their most recent experience as “online harassment” compared with their Black counterparts (39% vs. 27%).

Beyond their experiences and the effect online harassment has had on them, Americans hold a variety of opinions about the broader impact of harassment and how it could be addressed. A majority consider online harassment to be a major issue in American society and the vast majority are critical of the way social media companies are handling this issue on their platforms. However, notable shares of Americans are optimistic that permanent bans and identity disclosure could be effective in curtailing online harassment on social media sites.

55% of Americans consider online harassment to be a major problem

Fully 91% of Americans say people being harassed or bullied online is a problem, including 55% who describe this as a major problem. Still, the share who say online harassment is a major problem has decreased in the past three years, from 62% in 2017 to 55% in 2020.

Several demographic differences are present when it comes to the degree to which people describe online harassment as a major problem. For example, women are 13 percentage points more likely than men to say online harassment is a major problem (61% vs. 48%).

There are also some partisan differences, with about six-in-ten Democrats and independents who lean Democratic and roughly half of Republicans and Republican leaners saying online harassment is a major problem. However, this difference is due entirely to liberal Democrats: 65% of liberal Democrats say online harassment is a major problem, while approximately half of moderate to conservative Democrats (53%) and Republicans of any political ideology say the same (53% of moderate to liberal Republicans and 50% of conservative Republicans).

Additionally, personally experiencing online harassment is associated with a greater likelihood of categorizing it as a major problem. Americans who report facing these types of negative behaviors online are more likely than those who have not to say online harassment is a major problem (60% vs. 52%).

Many are critical of the job social media companies are doing to address online harassment

While most Americans agree that harassment and bullying are a problem online, the question remains of how social media companies, whose platforms are the most common place people report encountering online harassment, have been handling abusive and negative behaviors on their sites. These companies have faced criticism for how they deal with harassment on their platforms.

When asked to evaluate how well these platforms address online harassment or bullying on their platforms, just 18% feel social media companies are doing an excellent or good job. Much larger shares – roughly eight-in-ten – say these companies are doing an only fair to poor job.⁵

Across major demographic groups, people are critical of how social media companies are handling online harassment. However, White adults (82%) are slightly more likely to say social media companies are doing an only fair or poor job at addressing online harassment compared with Black (70%) and Hispanic (74%) adults.

Those who have experienced online harassment are no more critical of these platforms’ handling of harassment and bullying than adults who have faced no such online abuse.

Majority of Americans say targets of online harassment should not be able to sue social media companies

Over the past several years, much controversy has surrounded whether social media companies should be held accountable for the things they allow their users to say and do on their platforms. President-elect Joe Biden has proposed a plan to address tech companies’ shortfalls in this area more directly by increasing platform accountability.

When it comes to accountability, most Americans believe personal lawsuits against social media companies are not the right course of action. While a third of adults feel people who have been bullied or harassed by others on social media should be able to sue the platforms where the harassment occurred, a much larger share – 63% – believe targets of online abuse should not be able to bring legal action against social media sites.

White adults are more likely than those in other racial and ethnic groups to say people should not be able to sue. About seven-in-ten White adults say online harassment victims should not be able to sue the platforms where they were harassed, versus somewhat smaller shares of Asian (57%), Hispanic (55%) and Black (52%) adults.

Similarly, adults under 50 years old are more likely than those 50 and older to say harassment victims should not be able to sue the platforms where they were harassed (67% vs. 59%). There are also modest partisan differences on the issue, with 59% of Democrats and 69% of Republicans in opposition of being able to sue.

Personal experience with online harassment does not color people’s opinions about whether victims of harassment should be able to sue the platforms where it occurred.

Roughly half of Americans say permanently banning users who harass others would be a very effective way to reduce harassment on social media

Even though most Americans are critical of how social media companies are currently handling harassment, they are optimistic about a variety of possible solutions that could be implemented to curtail online harassment.

Around half of Americans say permanently suspending users if they bully or harass others (51%) or requiring users of these platforms to disclose their real identities (48%) would be very effective in helping to reduce harassment or bullying on social media. The idea of forcing people to disclose their identity has been controversial since the early days of the internet. Proponents argue it would help hold abusers accountable, while detractors believe it could worsen harassment and hurt those who try to speak out against authoritarian regimes.

Roughly four-in-ten say criminal charges for users who bully or harass (43%) or social media companies proactively deleting bullying or harassing posts (40%) would be very effective.

While permanent bans are a popular potential solution measured in this survey, temporary bans are the least popular among the measures about which respondents were asked. Still, a third of Americans (32%) think users getting temporarily suspended if they bully or harass others would be a very effective measure against harassment.

For most potential solutions, women are more optimistic about these efforts to reduce harassment than men. Fully 55% of women see permanently banning users who harass others as a very effective measure to reduce harassment on social media. In comparison, 47% of men say the same. Women are also more likely than men to say social media companies proactively deleting bullying or harassing posts (45% vs. 35%), temporary bans (36% vs. 28%) and criminal charges (45% vs. 40%) would be a very effective tactic.

Adults under 30 are consistently the most pessimistic about the efficacy of various measures intended to reduce harassment on social media. For example, 62% of adults 65 and older say requiring users of these platforms to disclose their real identities would be very effective in helping to reduce harassment or bullying on social media, while half as many adults under 30 (31%) say the same.

The only measure that at least four-in-ten younger adults see as very effective is permanently banning users who harass others. Still, adults 65 and older are far more optimistic about this option, with six-in-ten saying this would be very effective in helping to reduce harassment or bullying on social media.

Notable racial and ethnic divides are seen in beliefs about the efficacy of measures to address harassment on social media. A majority of Black adults see social media companies deleting bullying or harassing posts (57%) and users getting permanently suspended if they bully or harass others (58%) as very effective in helping to reduce harassment or bullying on social media, while smaller shares of White adults say the same (36% and 49%, respectively).

White adults are 21 percentage points less likely than Black adults to say companies proactively deleting harassing posts would be very effective and 10 points less likely than Hispanic and Asian adults. Black or Hispanic adults are also more optimistic than White adults about the efficacy of temporary bans and criminal charges.

Partisans also differ in their views of these potential solutions. Democrats are consistently more likely to say a measure would be very effective than their Republican counterparts. In fact, roughly half or more of Democrats see many measures as very effective solutions to online harassment, including criminal charges (47%), proactively deleting harassing posts (48%), required disclosure of identity (52%) and permanent bans (57%).

In many instances, Americans who report having encountered harassment online are less optimistic about the effectiveness of potential measures to address online harassment compared with those who have not experienced this online abuse. Those who have not faced harassment are more likely to say proactively deleting posts, temporary bans, permanent bans and requiring users to disclose their identities are very effective ways to reduce harassment online compared with those who report having experienced online harassment. The most effective solutions in the eyes of those who have faced harassment online are permanent bans (48%) and requiring users of these platforms to disclose their real identities (46%), though no option has a majority who think the measure would be very effective.

This report is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of the following individuals. Find related reports online at pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/internet.

Primary researchers

Emily A. Vogels, Research Associate

Research team

Monica Anderson, Associate Director of Research
Lee Rainie, Director, Internet and Technology Research
Brooke Auxier, Research Associate
Colleen McClain, Research Associate
Andrew Perrin, Research Analyst

Editorial and graphic design

Margaret Porteus, Information Graphics Designer
David Kent, Senior Copy Editor

Communications and web publishing

Haley Nolan, Communications Associate
Kelsey Beveridge, Communications Associate
Sara Atske, Associate Digital Producer

In addition, the project benefited greatly from the guidance of Pew Research Center’s methodology team: Courtney Kennedy, Andrew Mercer, Nick Bertoni, Dorene Asare-Marfo, Nick Hatley, Ashley Amaya and Arnold Lau, as well as from feedback by the following Pew Research Center staff: Aaron Smith, Juliana Menasce Horowitz, Jocelyn Kiley and Elisa Shearer. The Center received invaluable advice in developing the questionnaire from Andre Brock, Professor of Black Digital Studies, Georgia Institute of Technology.

The American Trends Panel survey methodology

The American Trends Panel (ATP), created by Pew Research Center, is a nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults. Panelists participate via self-administered web surveys. Panelists who do not have internet access at home are provided with a tablet and wireless internet connection. Interviews are conducted in both English and Spanish. The panel is being managed by Ipsos.

Data in this report is drawn from the panel wave conducted Sept. 8 to 13, 2020. A total of 10,093 panelists responded out of 11,506 who were sampled, for a response rate of 88%. This does not include three panelists who were removed from the data due to extremely high rates of refusal or straightlining. The cumulative response rate accounting for nonresponse to the recruitment surveys and attrition is 5%. The break-off rate among panelists who logged on to the survey and completed at least one item is 1.7%. The margin of sampling error for the full sample of 10,093 respondents is plus or minus 1.6 percentage points.

This study featured a stratified random sample from the ATP. The sample was allocated according to the following strata, in order: tablet households, U.S.-born Hispanics, foreign-born Hispanics, high school education or less, foreign-born Asians, not registered to vote, people ages 18 to 34, uses internet weekly or less, non-Hispanic Black adults, nonvolunteers and all other categories not already falling into any of the above. Panelists who had not yet completed the annual profile survey were ineligible.

The ATP was created in 2014, with the first cohort of panelists invited to join the panel at the end of a large, national, landline and cellphone random-digit-dial survey that was conducted in both English and Spanish. Two additional recruitments were conducted using the same method in 2015 and 2017, respectively. Across these three surveys, a total of 19,718 adults were invited to join the ATP, of whom 9,942 (50%) agreed to participate.

In August 2018, the ATP switched from telephone to address-based recruitment. Invitations were sent to a random, address-based sample of households selected from the U.S. Postal Service’s Delivery Sequence File. Two additional recruitments were conducted using the same method in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Across these three address-based recruitments, a total of 17,161 adults were invited to join the ATP, of whom 15,134 (88%) agreed to join the panel and completed an initial profile survey. In each household, the adult with the next birthday was asked to go online to complete a survey, at the end of which they were invited to join the panel. Of the 25,076 individuals who have ever joined the ATP, 15,373 remained active panelists and continued to receive survey invitations at the time this survey was conducted.

The U.S. Postal Service’s Delivery Sequence File has been estimated to cover as much as 98% of the population, although some studies suggest that the coverage could be in the low 90% range.⁶ The American Trends Panel never uses breakout routers or chains that direct respondents to additional surveys.

Weighting

The ATP data was weighted in a multistep process that accounts for multiple stages of sampling and nonresponse that occur at different points in the survey process. First, each panelist begins with a base weight that reflects their probability of selection for their initial recruitment survey (and the probability of being invited to participate in the panel in cases where only a subsample of respondents were invited). The base weights for panelists recruited in different years are scaled to be proportionate to the effective sample size for all active panelists in their cohort. To correct for nonresponse to the initial recruitment surveys and gradual panel attrition, the base weights for all active panelists are calibrated to align with the population benchmarks identified in the accompanying table to create a full-panel weight.

For ATP waves in which only a subsample of panelists are invited to participate, a wave-specific base weight is created by adjusting the full-panel weights for subsampled panelists to account for any differential probabilities of selection for the particular panel wave. For waves in which all active panelists are invited to participate, the wave-specific base weight is identical to the full-panel weight.

In the final weighting step, the wave-specific base weights for panelists who completed the survey are again calibrated to match the population benchmarks specified above. These weights are trimmed (typically at about the 1st and 99th percentiles) to reduce the loss in precision stemming from variance in the weights. Sampling errors and test of statistical significance take into account the effect of weighting.

The following table shows the unweighted sample sizes and the error attributable to sampling that would be expected at the 95% level of confidence for different groups in the survey:

Sample sizes and sampling errors for other subgroups are available upon request. In addition to sampling error, one should bear in mind that question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of opinion polls.

For details about how the 2017 and 2014 data sets were collected and weighted, see the 2017 report’s methodology.

A note about the Asian sample

This survey includes a total sample size of 303 Asian Americans. The sample includes English-speaking Asian Americans only and, therefore, may not be representative of the overall Asian American population (72% of our weighted Asian American sample was born in another country, compared with 77% of the Asian American adult population overall). Despite this limitation, it is important to report the views of Asian Americans on the topics in this study. As always, Asian Americans’ responses are incorporated into the general population figures throughout this report. Because of the relatively small sample size and a reduction in precision due to weighting, we are not able to analyze Asian American respondents by demographic categories, such as gender, age or education. For more, see “Polling methods are changing, but reporting the views of Asian Americans remains a challenge.”

© Pew Research Center, 2021