A recent report published by the Appeals Centre Europe has shown that 70% of content reported as online hate speech on social media is not removed by platforms.

An organisation of experts in language, law and policy, the Appeals Centre Europe is certified as a media regulator under the EU’s Digital Services Act. They resolve disputes about censorship decisions made by social media platforms, monitoring Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Threads, TikTok and YouTube.

The report conducted by Appeals Centre Europe looked at data from April 2025 until March 2026. In this time period, they examined 1,400 separate cases that were reported as online hate speech, but had not been removed by platforms.

The research found that this problem was most common on TikTok, where 83% of content reported as potential hate speech was not removed. The platform was followed by Instagram (74%), Facebook (61%) and YouTube (58%). These cases most notably included hateful content targeting religious minorities, Roma people, migrants, and the LGBTQ+ community.

The top countries that sent challenges to Appeals Centre Europe, per capita, were Belgium, Lithuania, Cyprus, Malta and Slovakia. Facebook was the platform receiving the highest number of challenges, despite it being the second lowest in overturning by Appeals Centre Europe.

While Appeals Centre Europe cannot command a platform to overturn a decision, they advise them to, stating that “while our decisions are non-binding, platforms must engage in good faith.”

GLAAD, an American NGO, has reported a rise in hate speech against LGBTQ+ people on social media platforms. In the organisation’s sixth annual Social Media Safety Index (SMSI), they reported that platforms Instagram, Facebook, Threads, YouTube, and X have all become more hostile to LGBTQ+ users, with TikTok being the only researched platform to not fall in score.

The changes were linked to regulation implementations or protection removals for LGBTQ+ users, such as Meta and YouTube abandoning their best practice policies for DEI.

CEO of Appeals Centre Europe, Thomas Hughes, spoke about the issue, saying: “Online hate speech and harassment have real-world consequences for many people and communities.

“In more than two-thirds of our decisions about online hate speech, we found that platforms failed to enforce their own policies and left up hateful content (including antisemitic, Islamophobic, misogynistic, racist, xenophobic, anti-Roma, homophobic and transphobic posts). “

He concluded, “This goes to show that platforms don’t always get it right. If you’re in the EU, you can challenge a platform’s decisions free-of-charge to Appeals Centre Europe and get an expert, impartial review”.

Find the full report by Appeals Centre Europe here.