X (formerly Twitter) has a higher rate of harassment and threats against women and girls compared to other social media platforms, according to recent research from the United Kingdom's Open University.

Women are more likely to use Facebook, so it only makes sense that they report being the targets of threats or sexist remarks more often. However, after considering the time spent on each social media app, researchers discovered that X users were more prone to encountering threats when using the site.

Online Harassment

According to The Independent, nearly 82% of all bullying incidents included some kind of written insult or threat. A poll of more than 7,000 women revealed that 33% were image-based and 45% were sexually explicit.

According to the women who participated in the research, the primary targets of cyberbullying were their gender, gender identity, and personal opinions.

Meanwhile, when women encountered harassment or bullying on Snapchat, it was more likely to persist even after the incident had ended. Some female Snapchat users have said that being a victim of online abuse has affected their school attendance.

"There is absolutely no place for violent or threatening behaviour on Snapchat. When we find this type of content, we move quickly to remove it and take the appropriate action on the offending account," a Snapchat spokesperson said. "We have easy to use, confidential reporting tools, work with police to support investigations and if someone reports a life-threatening situation, we escalate it immediately to the police."

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Discouraging Response

Research into online violence targeting women found that victims were most often young women (those under the age of 25), according to experts from the Open University.

Professor Olga Jurasz's research found that between 16 and 34 years old, one out of four English women had been victims of internet assault. This number increased to one-third among LGBT+ women residing in England.

At the same time, 69% of English women who were victims of online harassment reported it, most often to a specific social media site. Still, the majority of individuals felt the tech corporations' responses fell short of their expectations.

Fewer than 9% of women informed the police about the incident, with many attributing their silence to a lack of trust in law enforcement.

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