Online Harassment & Bullying

Americans have grown more divided on whether offensive content online is taken seriously enough and on which is more important online, free speech or feeling safe.

A majority of LGB adults report that they have used an online dating site or app, roughly twice the share of straight adults who say the same.

Six-in-ten women under 35 who have online dated say someone continued to contact them after they said they were not interested.

A majority of online daters say their overall experience was positive, but many users – particularly younger women – report being harassed or sent explicit messages on these platforms.

Americans have complicated views about the role social media companies should play in removing offensive content from their platforms.

Amid ongoing discussions about sexual harassment in the workplace and beyond, read five findings about how these issues have been discussed on Twitter and other social media outlets in the past year.

Roughly six-in-ten U.S. teens have been bullied or harassed online. Senior Researcher Monica Anderson discusses the methods and meaning behind the data. 

Americans agree that certain behaviors constitute online harassment, but they are more divided on others.

Americans agree that certain behaviors – like direct personal threats – constitute online harassment. But they are more divided on others, such as sending unkind messages or publicly sharing a private conversation.

Allegations about sexual misconduct by prominent men in politics, entertainment, media and other industries have reverberated across the United States in recent months, drawing attention to issues of gender equality in the workplace and in broader American society.