Study Shows Black Content Creators Receive Shocking Amount Of Hateful Comments

B Code’s Intelligence Center conducted a study which took a look at the current status of racial hate found on Black content creators specifically, and the level of hate and racism they’re getting online. The numbers are quite staggering.

Hate online is extremely hard to police and many are the recipients of a lot of hate from trolls and haters these days. This is yet another example of that hateful energy one can find online – especially content creators. In this case, black content creators.

Felicia Palmer, co-founder of SOHH.com stated:

“This groundbreaking BCode/SOHH.com Online Hate study definitively proves that online hate is pervasive and unchecked on all social media platforms.  Black creators, influencers, and publishers are the engines behind the growth of all these platforms, yet we are left exploited, unprotected, and financially devastated.”

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The evidence from this study is insurmountable — Twitch, Facebook and Twitter must enact tangible, meaningful and quantifiable reforms — from AI to personnel — to ensure there is equity in the next generation metaverse.”

For the study, 1,070 Black participants were questioned, and all were 18 years or older. The survey was conducted this past September and a staggering 54% of those studied reported having experienced excessive racist treatment online – all across the board in the US. The study specifically showed:

“Across all respondents, Facebook and Instagram were cited most as platforms where users experience online racial hate.

● 18-34-year-old consumers are disproportionately impacted by online racial hate as 46% of that segment reports that experience, especially on smaller social platforms.

● The overwhelming majority of respondents who do not report racial hate are disenfranchised, with 58% indicating the report will not make a difference and another 30% believing that no punishment will be imposed.

● 66% of the Black audience says that online racial hate affects their mental health and well-being. “Because of the discrimination they face online, Black content creators do not feel as comfortable expressing their authentic selves when engaging with others online and can often be isolated or financially disadvantaged as a by-product of not feeling welcome within online communities,” adds Danielle Hester, Brand Marketing Lead at B Code. “The onus is on these media platforms to make their digital environments more of a safe space for diverse audiences.”

These numbers and the work on the aforementioned study show that despite the awareness raised already, there are those online that are still not getting the message. Proof that the internet, and the hate that occurs there, is a hard place to police, as mentioned above, but hopefully studies like this can shed even more light on the problem.