Using social media data for assessing children’s exposure to violence during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 pandemic brought unforeseen challenges that could forever change the way societies prioritize and deal with public health issues. The approaches to contain the spread of the virus have entailed governments issuing recommendations on social distancing, lockdowns to restrict movements, and suspension of services. Objective There are concerns that the COVID-19 crisis and the measures adopted by countries in response to the pandemic may have led to an upsurge in violence against children. Added stressors placed on caregivers, economic uncertainty, job loss or disruption to livelihoods and social isolation, may have led to a rise in children’s experience of violence in the home. Extended online presence by children may have resulted in increased exposure to abusive content and cyberbullying. Participants and setting This study uses testimonial-based and conversational-based data collected from social media users. Methods Conversations on Twitter were reviewed to measure increases in abusive or hateful content, and cyberbullying, while testimonials from Reddit forums were examined to monitor changes in references to family violence before and after the start of the stayat-home restrictions. Results Violence-related subreddits were among the topics with the highest growth after the COVID-19 outbreak. The analysis of Twitter data shows a significant increase in abusive content generated during the stay-at-home restrictions. Conclusions The collective experience of the COVID-19 pandemic and related containment measures offers insights into the wide-ranging risks that children are exposed to in times of crisis. As societies shift towards a new normal, which places emerging technology, remote working and online learning at its center, and in anticipation of similar future threats, governments and other stakeholders need to put in place measures to protect children from violence.

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“…Lockdowns and social distancing measures have increased people’s exposure to the Internet in general. Since the post-test was evaluated during the lockdown in Spain, such evaluation may have been influenced by a situation of overexposure to the Internet and its potential consequences [ 53 , 66 ]. The lockdown may have been a singular ecological context from which the participants of the intervention group may have benefited in contrast with the control group (most risks significantly increased during this period).…”

“…This may be even more relevant considering the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown. In this context, adolescents may have been exposed to more online risks and content related to hatred or cyberbullying [53], sexting [54], or problematic use of the Internet or mobile phones [55,56]. There are several possible explanations for increased vulnerability to online risks during a lockdown.…”

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“…Social media tools where violence occurs most are Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp, YouTube, and Twitter. Nearly 75% of the students faced cyberbullying via these social media applications in 2020 (Futures Without Violence, 2021;Babvey et al, 2020). These rates are increasing gradually.…”