‘We Want You To Be A Proud Boy’ How Social Media Facilitates Political Intimidation and Violence

Image of a cracked iPad screen that shows images from various politically motivated events
September 2024

With a volatile election approaching, our new report reviews hundreds of social science studies on the question of the role social media plays in facilitating political intimidation and violence.

Our main finding is that the research consistently shows that social media is exploited to facilitate political intimidation and violence. What’s more, certain features of social media platforms make them particularly susceptible to such exploitation, and some of those features can be changed to reduce the danger. 

The report includes a series of recommendations for addressing harms exacerbated by social media.

For industry:

For government: 

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NetChoice Amicus Brief

In this brief, the Center urged the Supreme Court not to grant the social media industry full immunity from regulation, while also arguing that content moderation laws in Florida and Texas violate the First Amendment.