4/27/2022
Why Does Online Hate Speech Spread So Fast? The Psychological Perspective
Maciej Bieńkowski
Maciej Bieńkowski is a social psychologist and PhD candidate in Psychology at the University of Warsaw. His main areas of research interest are social networks analysis, natural language processing, and how these technologies can be used to prevent the spread of hate speech, conspiracy theories, fake news, and prejudice.
Wiktor Soral
Wiktor Soral is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Warsaw and a researcher at the Center for Research on Prejudice at the University of Warsaw. His research focuses on the psychological mechanisms responsible for the spread of hate speech and conspiracy theories. Many of his works concern how people perceive various forms of agency.
Michał Bilewicz
Michał Bilewicz is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Warsaw. He chairs the Center for Research on Prejudice at the University of Warsaw. The main areas of his research are: social psychology of intergroup relations, political psychology and the studies on collective memory.
Abstract
The internet and social media are often blamed for the spread of hate speech. Indeed, empirical evidence across countries supports this view. Individuals see hate speech more often online than in the traditional media, such as TV, radio, or printed newspapers. Moreover, recent evidence suggests that digital users tend to accept hate speech to a higher degree and to be more prejudiced than traditional media users. In this presentation, we present a social psychological perspective on why hate speech spreads so fast online, compared to offline channels of communication. We will explain the role of three factors: First, we propose that hate speech is frequently fueled by the emotion of contempt, which has an empathy buffering function. Second, we suggest that frequent exposure to hate speech leads to desensitization to this form of language and increased prejudice. Third, we postulate that being embedded in only a slightly hateful environment may drastically change the perception of social norms, and increase approval of hateful language. We will present a model that describes how these psychological mechanisms may act in the context of social networks, and how the very structure of the online networks - as compared to the offline networks - may amplify the significance of these psychological mechanisms. We believe that the model presented can be used to understand and possibly counteract the spread of online hate speech.
