Online Hate: Is Hate an Infectious Disease? Is Social Media a Promoter?

Abstract

Our time is marked by a resurgence of hate that threatens to increase oppression. Social media has contributed to this by acting as a medium through which hate speech is spread. How should we model the spread of hate? This article considers two models. First, I consider a simple contagion model. In this model, hate spreads like a virus through a social network. This model, however, fails to capture the fact that people do not acquire hatred from a single infectious contact. Instead, it builds up in a person's beliefs and attitudes through time until the infection reaches a level where the subject themselves becomes a generator of hate speech. Second, to accommodate this, I consider an alternative model known as complex contagion. I argue that not only is a complex contagion model more explanatory and predictive, but it can be used to explain why certain features of social media cause it to be a promoter of hate. I conclude by sketching some mitigation strategies.

Modeling and Analysis of Hate speech Propagation in a Community using Fractional Order Derivatives

“…This type of administrative practice frequently results in public disillusionment, decreased citizen participation, and the promotion of hate speech, leading to decreased trust in the legal system and a decline in quality of life including access to infrastructure and healthcare (Šumah, 2018). The hate speech propagation process is complex, influenced by a range of individual, social, and contextual factors (Popa-Wyatt, 2023). As a result, this could be attributed to the limited number of publications on the topic.…”