Online Hate and Harmful Content

Perceived Societal Fear and Cyberhate after the November 2015 Paris Terrorist Attacks

“…In addition, social media is always at least partly personal, and hence being exposed to shocking content on social media is likely to be more intimidating than seeing the same content in regular TV news or in the newspaper. 34 A recent large-scale Facebook experiment by Kramer, Guillory, and Hancock on 689,003 people entailed the manipulation of negative and positive posts. Decreasing the number of positive messages decreased positivity and increased negativity.…”

“…Cyberhate especially entails very strong emotions, and it may lead to a negative spiral when expressions of hate foster more hate and more negative emotions. 43…”

“…This hypothesis is based on previous studies showing that people exposed to footage or discussions on terrorism show more distress, anxiety, and fear. 71 The hypothesis is also grounded in the perspective provided by the media cultivation hypothesis, 72 the IBR model, 73 and social contagion theory. 74 Although our primary focus was on the association between perceived societal fear and exposure to cyberhate, based on our literature review it was important to control for general-media and social-media use.…”

“…Rates of cyberhate victimization ranged from 4 to 16%, and only a few young people produced hate content. 7 Exposure is higher in countries such as the U.S. that do not control or regulate hate speech or hateful messages online. 8 Efforts to regulate cyberhate and hate speech have been made especially in Europe.…”

“…9 The recent body of literature has shown that preventive measures should be applied because cyberhate may carry many negative consequences for those who see it and become victimized by it. 10 Cyberhate may also increase intergroup conflicts within society 11 and it may act as an incentive for hateful acts off-line. 12 Hence, cyberhate does not involve only what occurs on the Internet and social media, but has wider impact on society, public discourse, and public anxieties.…”