The “Hate Speech” Policies of Major Platforms during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This document reports an increase in so-called “hate speech” posts on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although dissimilar, such an increase can be observed in the transparency reports of the different platforms and the surge in content moderation since March 2020.

During the same period—as a result of the lockdown measures  adopted  in  most  countries  around  the world—platforms increased the use of AI tools for content  moderation.  Therefore,  we  can’t  fully  say whether the interannual growth is linked to increased posts or changes in monitoring systems.