Queer influencers are, according to a new study by “Netzschreier,” the group most often targeted by hate speech — demeaning, insulting, discriminatory, or threatening comments. By contrast, influencers in the photography and travel spaces report almost no hate, the Berlin-based agency said.
Overall, Netzschreier analyzed the Instagram posts of 78 influencers with at least 300,000 followers across 18 topics. They checked whether comments contained insulting terms or emojis.
The results showed that for queer influencers, 4.8 percent of all comments were demeaning. The average across the board stood at 1.41 percent.
Reality stars (3.95 percent), gaming and streaming creators (2.65 percent), and business, career, and knowledge influencers (2.5 percent) also have to endure a lot of hate speech. Things are somewhat calmer for influencers focused on food (0.28 percent), fashion (0.15 percent), or photography and travel (0.1 percent each). Among football players’ profiles, hate comments were comparatively rare as well (0.36 percent).
A wake-up call for platforms
“Our analysis shows in black and white what many queer influencers have long felt daily: those who openly champion diversity are disproportionately targeted by hate online,” said Marlon Giglinger, Netzschreier’s managing director. “That posts by queer influencers in 2025 are insulted three times as often as the average should be a wake-up call for platforms, advertisers, and society at large.”
“Overall, researchers found hate speech in the comments for 88.5 percent of the influencers studied. But the dark figure is likely much higher,” Giglinger added. “Many hate comments are deleted or hidden before they’re recorded.” The affected influencers, of course, still see them. “That has consequences: it’s not unusual for influencers to report effects on their mental health from insults, threats, and hate comments.” The “permanent bombardment of hate, ridicule, and sexually charged comments” is dangerous for influencers, Giglinger lamented.
