High-profile women on Instagram face 'epidemic of misogynist abuse', study finds
Source: The Guardian
High-profile women on Instagram face epidemic of misogynist abuse, study finds
Messages analyzed were to well-known social media users such as Jamie Klingler, Rachel Riley and Bryony Gordon
Wed 6 Apr 2022 06.00 BST
Last modified on Wed 6 Apr 2022 06.01 BST
A new report analyzing thousands of direct messages sent to high profile women on Instagram has uncovered what researchers describe as systemic failures to protect women in the public eye from misogynist harassment.
The report, released by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), analyzed thousands of messages sent to five well known Instagram users: including actor Amber Heard, UK television presenter Rachel Riley, activist Jamie Klingler, journalist Bryony Gordon, and magazine founder Sharan Dhaliwal.
Researchers examined a cache of 8,717 messages from the women who participated and say they uncovered a wave of misogynistic abuse, pointing to various ways in which Instagram, owned by Meta, has been negligent in addressing the issues.
Concerns include the fact that users are unable to report abusive voice notes sent directly to them, that users cannot report messages sent in vanish mode when an image is shown just briefly before disappearing without viewing them, and that users struggle to download evidence of abusive messages. Instagram also allows strangers to place voice calls to women they dont know over direct message.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/apr/05/high-profile-women-on-instagram-face-epidemic-of-misogynist-abuse-study-finds