Pew says around 40 percent of Americans are harassed online

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Roughly four-in-10 Americans have personally experienced online harassment, most commonly on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, according to a Pew Research Center survey released on Tuesday.

Pew Research Center Photo

The survey shows 41 percent of 4,248 respondents have been subjected to online harassing behavior such as offensive name-calling and embarrassment, up from 35 percent in 2014 when the think tank last conducted a similar survey.

Nearly one-in-five said they experienced more severe forms of harassment such as physical threats, stalking and sexual harassment.

Pew Research Center Photo

While men are more likely than women to experience online harassment overall -- 44 percent versus 37 percent -- women, particularly young women, are more likely to be the targets of sexualized forms of online abuse. Two-in-10 women aged 18 to 29 said they have been sexually harassed online, and just over half said they have been sent explicit images they did not ask for, according to the survey.

The most common venue for online harassment was social media, with 58 percent saying their most recent incident happened on a social media platform.

(Source: Reuters)