Social network Instagram has failed to remove abusive comments targeting female politicians who are potential candidates for this year's United States elections, a report from the nonprofit Center Against Digital Hate said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
This report analyzed over half a million comments on social media posts by five Democratic and five Republican politicians, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Senator Marsha Blackburn and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.
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Letter to the Reader — Why We're Asking for Your Support ContributeOver 20 comments have been rated as "toxic" with a thousand of them containing sexist and racist abuse, as well as threats of death and rape.
Instagram has left 93 percent of harmful comments undeleted, thus violating the platform's standards.
In response to the report, Meta said it has tools for users to control comments on their posts, including filtering out offensive comments, phrases or emojis.
"We will review the CCDH report and take action on any content that violates our policies," said Cindy Southworth, head of women's safety at Meta.
The report urged social networking platforms to implement their security guidelines more effectively and take decisive action against targeted online abuse.