Meeting this Moment: A Letter from GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis
Now in its fifth year, GLAAD’s Social Media Safety Index (SMSI) continues to be the leading analysis of anti-LGBTQ online hate, harassment, and disinformation, with a year-round program dedicated to protecting safety, privacy, and expression for LGBTQ people online.
Recent years undeniably illustrate how online hate speech and misinformation negatively influence public opinion, legislation, and the real-world safety and health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. The landscape of social media platform accountability work has shifted dramatically since GLAAD’s first SMSI report in 2021, with new and dangerous challenges in 2025.
The recent major ideological shifts from Meta have been particularly extreme. Earlier this year, the company announced it would retreat from established norms of trust and safety in favor of welcoming hate speech, and further place the onus on users to block blatantly harmful content that would otherwise violate its policies. The Platform Scorecard and the Key Findings and Recommendations of this edition of the SMSI reflect the early fallout of the current situation and point to why collective advocacy to hold social media companies accountable is so urgent.
Given the current dehumanizing attacks on LGBTQ people and new challenges to social media safety, this year’s SMSI includes refreshed strategies to advance our mission. GLAAD continues monitoring, researching, and reporting on anti-LGBTQ hate, harassment, and disinformation on major social media platforms, while leaning in to new approaches including: expanding our reach by providing stakeholder guidance to additional tech and AI companies; presenting and advocating SMSI recommendations to other social media platforms; providing tools, information, and resources directly to LGBTQ creators, activists, organizations, and everyone. When companies put our community — and other marginalized communities — at risk, GLAAD leads with facts, education, organizing, and humanity.
Forty years ago, GLAAD’s founders launched this non-profit advocacy organization because they recognized the immense power and opportunity that all forms of media have for advancing acceptance and understanding of LGBTQ people. As new forms of media have proliferated over the years, GLAAD’s work to hold these companies accountable has grown in scope and importance as well. We stand ready and strong to meet this moment.
