Experiences of hateful content

Ofcom has commissioned a survey of UK adults aged 18+ about their experiences of encountering hateful content online over the last 12 months. 

The research asked about the type, frequency and targets of hateful content they had seen online during the previous year, and was conducted by YouGov among a nationally representative sample of 4,443 UK adults aged 18+, in February 2026.  

CONTENT WARNING: The research contains distressing discussions of people’s experiences with online hate.  

What we found: 

In summary, we found that: 

• Over three quarters of UK adult internet users (77%) encountered hateful content during the previous year. Over half (58%) said they saw online hate every week, during this time. 

• People were most likely to encounter xenophobic and racist forms of hate, specifically: hate towards asylum seekers (encountered by 65% of adults), people born outside the UK (61%), and minority ethnic groups (58%). 

• Communities who are targeted by hate were more likely to encounter it. The proportion of adult internet users encountering hate during the previous year was over 8 in 10 among minority ethnic groups (85%) and 9 in 10 among LGBTQ+ adults (90%). Similarly, people from minority ethnic groups were more likely to encounter racist content compared to other respondents (69% vs. 57%), and LGBTQ+ adults were more likely than others to encounter homophobic content (78% vs. 47%) and transphobic content (78% vs. 50%).

• The proportion encountering hate also rose to 9 in 10 among 18-24-year-olds (90%). The proportion of male and female respondents encountering hate was similar (76% and 78%), though female respondents were significantly more likely to encounter sexist content than male respondents (61% vs. 53%). 

• Over half of those who encountered online hate had encountered content that was abusive towards an individual, with 53% encountering hate targeting a public figure/celebrity.  

Ofcom’s role

• This research was conducted to build on and update our existing evidence base around adults’ experiences of online hate and abuse. It complements other Ofcom research studies on the impact of hate, and experiences of abuse among public figures, as well as our ongoing monitoring of online hate alongside other kinds of potentially harmful content in the Online Experiences Tracker and Children’s Online Safety Tracker.  

• In our Online Safety work, regulated services must have systems and processes in place to protect internet users from illegal hate. For other content that is hateful and abusive towards a list of protected characteristics, regulated services must protect children from encountering this, and in some circumstances will need to offer adults user empowerment tools to reduce their likelihood of encountering it. Understanding how people encounter and navigate hateful content online is also relevant to our media literacy duties.