As social interaction and recreational activities become more dependent on digital platforms, problems arise, such as “wiping addiction” among young users and cyber-harassment and threats resulting from lack of accountability and abuse of freedom of expression by users. According to a recent global survey, Facebook appears to have become the most violent platform for cyberviolence in the number of harassment cases that come to light in widely used applications.
Meta is currently facing heavy criticism. A survey published by the non-profit organization Global Witness indicated that about 90 per cent of the environmental advocates interviewed reported some form of cyber-harassment on their advocacy platform under Meta’s banner. The organization also monitors violence against environmentalists.
Among the social media applications covered in the survey, Facebook performed the worst in online violence, followed by X, WhatsaPP and Instagram. Harassment is often directed at activists, as evidenced by the receipt of threatening information, including extreme death threats. The frequent use of derogatory language is intended to silence speakers and to disseminate false information against them for the purpose of silence. “Global Witness” has joined many activists to raise concerns with Meta and to urge the technology giant and other companies to take stricter measures to address the problem.
Even more serious is the high degree of overlap between cyberviolence and actual harm. The survey further revealed that over 70 per cent of respondents believed that the harassment they suffered online directly contributed to the threat to the real world. “Global Witness” conducted an alarming survey of some 200 land environmental advocates between November 2024 and March 2025, with Meta’s platform identified as the worst of them. The results of the survey showed that over 50 per cent of the participants had been harassed on Facebook, about 36 per cent on WhatsApp and about 20 per cent on Instagram. Social applications, which should be a means of communication, are misused to intimidate individuals and prevent them from expressing their concerns.
“Global Witness” is promoting action by social media companies on their platforms to introduce regulatory measures such as content audits and to regularly review the effectiveness of the system. The role of algorithms in exacerbating the problem was also highlighted, as was the urgent need to reform content referral mechanisms to deal with widespread cyberviolence.
