Online hate speech poses a growing socio-technological threat that undermines democratic resilience and obstructs progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16). This study examines the regulatory and behavioral dimensions of this phenomenon through a combined legal analysis of platform governance and an empirical survey conducted on Meta platforms, based on a sample of young Hungarians (N = 301, aged 14–34). This study focuses on Hungary as a relevant case study of a Central and Eastern European (CEE) state. Countries in this region, due to their shared historical development, face similar societal challenges that are also reflected in the online sphere. The combination of high social media penetration, a highly polarized political discourse, and the tensions between platform governance and EU law (the DSA) makes the Hungarian context particularly suitable for examining digital resilience and the legal awareness of young users. The results reveal a significant “awareness gap”: While a majority of young users can intuitively identify overt hate speech, their formal understanding of platform rules is minimal. Furthermore, their sanctioning preferences often diverge from Meta’s actual policies, indicating a lack of clarity and predictability in platform governance. This gap signals a structural weakness that erodes user trust. The legal analysis highlights the limited enforceability and opacity of content moderation mechanisms, even under the Digital Services Act (DSA) framework. The empirical findings show that current self-regulation models fail to empower users with the necessary knowledge. The contribution of this study is to empirically identify and critically reframe this ‘awareness gap’. Moving beyond a simple knowledge deficit, we argue that the gap is a symptom of a deeper legitimacy crisis in platform governance. It reflects a rational user response—manifesting as digital resignation—to opaque, commercially driven, and unaccountable moderation systems. By integrating legal and behavioral insights with critical platform studies, this paper argues that achieving SDG 16 requires a dual strategy: (1) fundamentally increasing transparency and accountability in content governance to rebuild user trust, and (2) enhancing user-centered digital and legal literacy through a shared responsibility model. Such a strategy must involve both public and private actors in a coordinated, rights-based approach. Ultimately, this study calls for policy frameworks that strengthen democratic resilience not only through better regulation, but by empowering citizens to become active participants—rather than passive subjects—in the governance of online spaces.