Online hate crime
News team
Recorded online incidents of disability hate crime have increased by 33% in the last year, according to our latest research.
There is no escaping this online abuse if I want to use social media. It’s horrible to know that my family might see this abuse online.
Janine Howard
The biggest increase has been seen in Norfolk and Suffolk where recorded incidents have risen from four to 23 and two to 20. Kent, although not reporting such a large increase, has the most crimes reported with 30 on record.
We're calling for global media companies such as Twitter and Facebook to online disability hate crime more seriously and protect all users.
We also support MP's recommendation for the government and social media users to directly consult disabled people on digital strategy and hate crime laws so the internet becomes less threatening and more inclusive place for everybody.
Our survey
We also spoke to disabled people to find out about their experiences. Out of the people we spoke to, 70% experienced online abuse through Facebook or Facebook messenger.
Also, worryingly, 36% of the people we spoke to have told nobody at all about the incident which supports our worries that these latest figures only show a small percentage of the story.