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In today's digital age, social media platforms play a central role in communication, self-expression, and community building. However, the widespread use of these platforms also brings challenges, most notably, the prevalence of hate speech. 

To address the rapid spread of illegal hate speech on social media in 2016 The EU Code of Conduct on Countering Illegal Hate Speech Online was launched. Initially it was signed by Facebook, Twitter (now X), YouTube, and Microsoft, later some others were included. Major platforms have implemented policies and tools to help users report and combat abusive or discriminatory content. Understanding how to navigate these reporting systems is essential for maintaining a respectful and safe online environment.

How to report hate speech on Instagram? 

Meta owns several prominent platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. According to Meta’s policy, hate speech is defined as anything that directly attacks people based on protected characteristics (race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, religious affiliation). When it comes to enforcement, Meta uses a combination of both user reports and technology to find hate speech automatically.

Meta platforms promise to guarantee anonymity when sending a request, except in cases where it is necessary to establish true ownership.

Instagram provided official instructions on how to file a complaint:

• Report a post

1. Click (Options) in the top right of the post.
2. Select Report and follow the on-screen instructions.

• Report a comment

1. Click (Comments) below the post.
2. Hover over to the comment that you want to report.
3. Click (Options) below the comment.
4. Click Report.
5. Select an option for why the comment is abusive and then follow the on-screen instructions. Note: After you've reported a comment, you'll no longer see it, but this doesn't mean that the comment was removed by Instagram.
6. After you have reported a comment, you are entitled to restrict or block the person.

How to report hate speech on Facebook?

Facebook as part of Meta shares the same Community Standards as Instagram (e.g. inadmissibility of nudity, harassment, hate speech etc.). Facebook provides settings for filtering content and controlling the user’s experience.

In attempt to handle bullying or personal attack Facebook offer a set of measures:

• Unfriend the person

1. Go to that profile by typing their profile name into the search bar at the top of Facebook.
2. Click (Friends) at the top of their profile.
3. Click Unfriend, then click Confirm.

• Block the person

1. Switch to the profile that you want to use.
2. Click your profile picture in the top right of Facebook.
3. Select (Settings) and privacy, then click (Settings).
4. In the left column, under Audience and visibility, click Blocking
5. In the Block profiles and Pages section, click Edit.
6. Click Add to blocked list.
7. Type the name of the profile or Page that you want to block.
8. Click Block next to their name.
9. Click Confirm.

• How to report the person

1. Go to the post that you want to report.
2. Click (Options) in the top right of the post.
3. Click Report post.
4. To give feedback, click the option that best describes how this post goes against our Community Standards. Click Next.
5. Depending on your feedback, you may then be able to submit a report to Meta. For some types of content, we don't ask you to submit a report, but we use your feedback to help our systems learn. Click Done.

For more information and tips you can visit Facebook’s Bullying Prevention Hub (https://www.facebook.com/safety/bullying) 

Find more about reporting tools and hate speech policy in TikTok, X and YouTube in the second part of the article.