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Social media companies as a whole are not doing enough to protect targets of online hate, according to a new report by the Anti-Defamation League, an anti-hate organization.

The ADL issued a report card this week grading nine social media platforms on their support for victims of hate. Twitch performed the best, receiving a B — the only network to score better than a C. The lowest mark went to Snapchat, which received the lone F. 

The group reviewed a number independent reports on social media abuses, including from PEN America, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the International Center for Journalists, and the World Wide Web Foundation, as well as its own. 

The ADL then came up with 11 platform features it said are necessary to protect targets of online hate — all of which were recommended in at least four of the reports. They include tools to communicate clearly with people reporting abuse, real-time support for people facing severe harassment, batch reporting of multiple posts, blocking and muting accounts, direct messages or keywords, and filtering content.

None of the platforms met all 11 criteria, which the ADL put into five categories. And no platform offers a person who was the target of hateful messages the ability to speak to a live person, the report added. 

Twitch received its highest marks for its blocking and muting features. 

Snapchat, meanwhile, received zero “dots” out of four in three of the five categories: support for campaign and network harassment, communication with targets and filtering.

“Again and again, these platforms say they want to protect users from hate and harassment – then neglect to deliver,” said Yael Eisenstat, ADL vice president and head of the Center for Technology and Society. “Especially as new platforms emerge, we need to make sure that this generation of social media companies provides real options and support for those affected by online hate.” 

Instagram, TikTok and YouTube received C’s. Twitter (recently rebranded as X) and Facebook each were given a C-, and Discord and Reddit received D’s. 

The ADL said annual surveys indicate that not only have online platforms’ actions failed to reduce the amount of online hate and harassment, such posts are actually hitting record highs. The ADL’s Online Hate and Harassment survey this year found that 33% of American adults and 51% of teens say they’ve experienced harassment on social media in the last year.

“While social media platforms have a responsibility to prevent the existence of online hate and harassment, they also have a responsibility to protect targets of hate when those efforts fail,” said Jordan Kraemer, the director of research at the ADL Center for Technology and Society. “But they are behind on both accounts. By taking these steps to support targets of hate, platforms can prove they are serious about making improvements overall.”

Spectrum News reached out to four social media companies for comment Wednesday.

Reddit insisted it has a “strict sitewide policies that prohibit hateful content and harassment.”

“Our dedicated internal Safety teams enforce these policies through a combination of automated tooling and human review,” a Reddit spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “While we are always evolving our policies and practices, the report shows repeatedly that Reddit was among the platforms where users are least likely to experience harassment. Our internal data confirms significant reductions in the prevalence of hateful content since 2020. We remain committed to removing harmful content, including hate and harassment, across our platform.”

Discord declined to comment. Snapchat and Twitch had not responded by the time this article was published.