• Although the majority of students have not experienced online harassment, ethnic minority and female students more often experience the more harmful forms of online harassment than do their peers.
• Students from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups are more likely to be harassed on school platforms than their peers.
• Students are more likely to take action themselves to address online harassment than to report it to their institution, friends/family, or law enforcement.
• More students are either dissatisfied or neutral than satisfied with the outcome of the actions they took to address online harassment.

• Strengthen student codes of conduct and policies for responding to online harassment based on the different kinds and severity of harassment individuals experience. Define what constitutes harassment in online environments, even if harassment takes place in nonacademic settings or via the use of personal devices. PEN America's Online Harassment Field Manual provides a useful Glossary of Terms for defining types of online harassment, as well as best practices for protecting users and responding to attacks.
• Foster an anti-harassment culture by training students, faculty and staff about online harassment. Incorporate "bystander intervention" education to help the campus community recognize different types of harassment, and encourage the reporting of attacks that threaten student safety and wellbeing, and/or interfere with academic participation. The Cyberbullying Research Center and the Tyler Clementi Foundation both offer resources that can be useful in the development of programs and workshops.
• Develop a centralized system for reporting and tracking instances of online harassment, and the actions taken to investigate and address cases. While taking personal action is immediate and crucial, strong and accessible reporting mechanisms are needed to help constrain online harassment and foster safe and inclusive environments for students. In their 2019 report "Changing the Culture: Tackling online harassment and promoting online welfare," Universities UK suggests expanding online reporting systems and shares case study examples of impact for consideration.

Although the majority of students (84%) reported that they have not experienced online harassment, ethnic minority and female students more often reported experiencing the more harmful forms of online harassment than do their peers.1 Students who identified their race/ethnicity as multiple or "other" were more likely to report experiencing hate speech, trolling, online sexual harassment,2 and online threats than students in other racial/ethnic groups.3 And female students were more likely than male students to report experiencing online sexual harassment and the nonconsensual sharing (or the threat of sharing) of intimate images and videos.

Students from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups are more likely to be harassed on school platforms than their peers. Although most of the online harassment that all respondents told us they experienced occurs in environments used for personal, non-coursework purposes, more Black/African American (17%), Hispanic/Latinx (17%), and Asian/Pacific Islander (13%) students said they are harassed in environments or apps their institution provides or sponsors than white students (11%). Black students are also more likely than individuals of other races/ethnicities to encounter harassment on platforms that are recommended by their instructors. Though our data don't reveal the actual content of the harassment encountered by the Black students in our sample, other studies have shown that race-based attacks can significantly impact students' feelings of safety, security, and belonging at their institutions.4 

Students are more likely to take action themselves to address online harassment than to report it to their institution, friends/family, or law enforcement. Half of respondents reported blocking or muting their harasser, which was the most common action taken, followed by modifying one's account to avoid a harasser and ignoring (but not muting or blocking) the harasser. More women than men said they mute or block their harasser and/or inform friends or family members. Many students wrote in their open-ended responses that blocking/muting or just ignoring their harasser is effective (e.g., "Most online harassment can be ignored"). Others seemed resigned to the idea that some level of harassment is inevitable when using many tech apps and platforms. These attitudes may be indicative of the "wide spectrum of harm"5 that many women experience online and that some behaviors are considered a nuisance, while others may be more severe and threatening.

More students were either dissatisfied (15%) or neutral (41%) than satisfied (45%) with the outcome of the actions they took to address online harassment. Reasons cited for lack of satisfaction reflect a combination of indifference and resignation. For example, one student said, "I'm more or less used to it and apathetic to it at this point." Other comments suggest that some students have experienced more harmful attacks and feel that reporting it would do no good or could make the situation even worse. These findings indicate that many students may be accustomed to or tolerant of certain kinds of online harassment. Women reported lower rates of overall satisfaction (43%) than men (51%) with the outcomes of actions to address harassment. As noted earlier, these attitudes may be indicative of the varying types and degrees of harm that many women experience online and that some behaviors are considered a mere nuisance. This disparity could also relate to differences in how seriously men versus women view online harassment,6 the different kinds of online attacks experienced by men and women, and/or the broader cultural attitudes that downplay the types of harassment women encounter.