Still, its worth making the effort if you see threatening messages online.
There are also outside sources you might turn to if you stumble upon disturbing bias acts on social media.
But first:
Its fairly easy to report hate speech on major social media platforms.
Its less easy to get the platforms to take action against purported hate speech.
What is hate speech?
Hate speech is sort of an amorphous concept.
I hate all Muslims and want to kill them is an escalation.
When theres a specific threat against a specific person, Billoo says, the stakes amplify.
Its a threat, she said.
Theyre often used to intimidate people, even though there is no verbal statement.
Its still a clear threat to someone, to dig up historical terror.
Is hate speech illegal?
Because of free speech protections, non-threatening hate speech is nearly impossible to police.
Still, there are limitations.
We also provide some protections for immigration status.
Theres not a single platform I can think of that can police all of their content, she said.
A lot of these systems rely on reporting.
Which brings us to:
How do you report hate speech directly to platforms?
Its fairly easy to report hate speech on major social media platforms.
Itslesseasy to get the platforms to take action against purported hate speech.
But well get to that in a second.
Twitter may also ask you to report additional tweets on the abusive users timeline.
The challenge is more of the grey area.
you’ve got the option to specifically report the post as hate speech.
Sometimes, this happens quickly.
Mordechai Lightstone, the the Social Media editor of Chabad.org, says he often reports anti-Semitic tweets from trolls.
The process can also be frustratingly slow.
In the meantime, you’ve got the option to block or mute the user you find offensive.
Sometimes, this is the only thing it’s possible for you to do.
Note that when it comes to reporting, theres often power in numbers.
These are companies that respond to customers.
Should you get law enforcement involved?
When it comes to hate speech online, its tricky to know when to seek outside help.
Im always hesitant to tell targeted communities to call law enforcement.
While most online trolling is indeed online, sometimes it spills over into real life.
Billoo notes that threats need to be specific if you plan to involve law enforcement.
I want to kill all Muslims isnt actionable.
But where there is a specific targeted threat, I know this isnt just an egghead on Twitter.
Those are the things I would definitely treat as an escalation and report.
Do note that it still may be difficult to take action, even with law enforcement involved.
If someone is being directly targeted with threat, you should absolutely contact law enforcement.
But theres very little legal recourse for harassing content online, Feeney said.
Are there places to report hate speech outside of the platforms themselves?
Local groups like the NYCLU have set up tools and portals people can use to report bias acts.
Note that Documenting Hate cant specifically do anything actionable.
Its often difficult to get platforms to move quickly when you are acting alone.
Its a really big trust and safety issue with hate speech, Lo said.
Reports are not a good indicator, since a lot of people abuse report systems.
Corcione later got an email from Twitter notifying them their account had been suspended.
I didnt get much backlash for [the tweet] at all.
It didnt even get much engagement, it got like 70 likes or something, Corcione said.
It was a non-direct non-threat, and a reference toThat 70s Show.
In fact, as Feeney pointed out, its not uncommon for the wrong people to get penalized.
Even self referential or ironic language can lead to trouble.
As Billoo cautioned, People who are using social media should be thoughtful about what they post.
After all, she said, Once it leaves your lips or fingertips, its forever.
