Four in 10 women have experienced or witnessed sexual harassment on social media, research has found

The study comes as MPs called for misogynistic abuse online to be banned as part of the Online Safety Bill

“Our research clearly shows a lack of trust in social media platforms, with so many respondents having been affected by a form of sexual harassment” (PA Wire)

Eight in 10 of those have received unwanted sexual comments and 48 per cent have been sent pornographic images.

The study of 3,000 women, commissioned by mobile phone retailer SellCell, comes as MPs called for misogynistic abuse online to be banned as part of the Online Safety Bill.

This addition was put forward earlier this year (May 2023) to protect women from online violence, abuse and harassment.

The Online Safety Bill proposal has gone through multiple amends due to several government changes including four prime ministers and five digital ministers.

Its purpose is to enforce social media firms to remove illegal content and protect users against revenge porn, hate speech, among others – with a penalty system in place for those who do not respond quickly. SellCell’s research also found that 41 per cent of women don’t trust social media apps – and 68 per cent say they’re not doing enough to tackle sexual harassment.

Sarah McConomy COO from SellCell said: “Our research clearly shows a lack of trust in social media platforms, with so many respondents having been affected by a form of sexual harassment, or knowing someone who has.

“Our goal is to raise awareness of the issue, in the hope that the Online Safety Bill will soon pass and protect women from online abuse.

“Harassment should not be tolerated in any form and we need to act in any way we can to prevent it from happening.”