Our report investigates the impact that design features and targeted advertising strategies devised by Big Tech companies have on LGBTQIA+ teens. With LGBTQIA+ youth already being more vulnerable to mental health issues and suicide, it was disturbing for us to find that they are also exposed to more online harms than non-LGBTQIA+ youth. Just to name a few of the negative impacts, LGBTQIA+ teens see content promoting drug sales and eating disorders, are shown ads about things they were just talking about, and lose more sleep due to feeling “stuck” on social media at disproportionately higher ratios.
The protections outlined in the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) would help to tangibly prevent some of the harms that LGBTQIA+ teens experience within the digital world. LGBTQIA+ youth deserve to develop in a world that values them, and the passing of these two landmark bills would be a major step towards this vision.