Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged Meta to enhance their protection of LGBTQ+ users on Facebook and Instagram. This call to action coincides with a new “Secure Socials” campaign promoted by HRW in conjunction with human rights organizations, such as Social Media Exchange (SMEX), INSM Foundation for Digital Rights, Helem and Damj Association.
The campaign follows a 2023 HRW report titled “All This Terror Because of a Photo: Digital Targeting and Its Offline Consequences for LGBT People in the Middle East and North Africa”. The report provided insights into how security services leveraged platforms owned by Meta to persecute LGBTQ+ individuals in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia.
Besides the call to improve protections, the “Secure Socials” campaign also implores Meta to be completely transparent. The campaigners are demanding that the company release data indicating their investment in user safety and provide justifications that demonstrate how these investments proportionately mitigate the risks of harm experienced by users in these regions.
These calls for improvement come in light of past instances where pictures, WhatsApp chats, and LGBTQ+ dating applications were used to prosecute the affected persons. Many LGBTQ+ individuals detained because of this digital targeting claimed they were denied access to legal counsel and were compelled to sign confessions acknowledging illegal behavior.
Rasha Jones, Acting LGBTQ+ Rights Deputy Director at HRW, criticized Meta’s insufficient action in this area. His comments reflect the broader campaign’s sentiment that social media networks must safeguard all users, particularly marginalized groups that often face offline insecurity:
“As the largest social media company in the world, Meta should be a global leader in making social media safe for everyone…When LGBT people, who already face insecurity offline, use Facebook and Instagram for connection and organizing, they deserve certainty that Meta is doing everything in its power to ensure their security.”
Despite these calls for action, Meta has not issued a written response to two inquiries sent by HRW since the report from 2023. This information adds to the increasingly urgent calls for more safeguards and transparency from major social media enterprises like Meta.
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