No one should suffer harmful content online.
We operate Report Harmful Content (RHC) in collaboration with major industry providers, together with support from partners. RHC encourages anyone to report harmful content online and offers guidance on how to do so. Having received a response to a report, RHC will either explain and justify the providers reply or provide further assistance and representation to action the harmful content as required. Here, we look at the quarterly report from the start of 2021 with the main trends seen over the reporting period.
Just a Bit of Background
RHC is a national non-emergency service that:
- Provides information on community standards
- Supports victims of legal but harmful content by directing to provider reporting mechanisms
- Provides redress for victims with queries or complaints having reported content to a platform
- Explains why content might not be removed
- Provides assistance and representation in removing harmful content from platforms
The Main Trends From the Last Three Months
From the reports received, the main trends noted were:
- Bullying/ repeated harassment (most common reason for reporting)
- Pornographic content where legality is questionable
- Impersonation as a form of harassment
- Wider issues of actively searching for harmful content
- Rise in reports about unwanted sexual advances and violent content
And from these reports, the key statistics found were:
- 82% of content reported by RHC was successfully actioned after escalation with industry (i.e. removed/ restricted/ regained access to)
- 96% of reports RHC signposted victims towards the correct reporting routes and/ or relevant support services, empowering them to take action, reporting via the correct channel.
- 204 reports submitted to RHC for assessment (This compares to 190 reports from the previous period.
- 4245 visits to Report Harmful Content website
Report Harmful Content Survey
We are currently collecting data to understand the awareness of Report Harmful Content in the UK. This survey should only take you a few minutes to complete and all responses will be anonymous.
