COVID-19: A Pandemic of Anti-Asian Cyberhate

Abstract

Hateful online attacks targeting individuals of Asian descent have increased dramatically in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. This study examines daily trends in inflammatory keywords associated with anti-Asian cyberhate using data collected from Twitter between January 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021. Additionally, we explore the sentiment of tweets and track the evolution of discourse on Twitter regarding Asians and the coronavirus. Our results indicate that the usage of inflammatory keywords associated with anti-Asian hate on Twitter rose dramatically at the outset of the outbreak, and then spiked at various points over the next fourteen months. Notably, offline events and rhetoric appear to have affected the rate of hateful tweets about the pandemic targeting Asians. Additionally, we find that discourse on Twitter around the words China, Chinese, Asians, and virus has become increasingly negative and stigmatizing during the course of the coronavirus outbreak.

“Somewhere I belong?” A study on transnational identity shifts caused by “double stigmatization” among Chinese international student returnees during COVID-19 through the lens of mindsponge mechanism

“…The impacts of the first stigmatization on Chinese international students have been discussed in previous studies ( Ma and Miller, 2021 ; Costello et al, 2021 ; Xu et al, 2021 , Ma and Zhan, 2022 ), and it was confirmed that the mask-wearing in this population had triggered racist encounters and their mask-wearing practice had been stigmatized by the American government and CDC. Specifically, by comparing the American government’s polarized stance on mask-wearing in 2 months, Ma and Zhan (2022) illustrated how the American government orchestrated and manipulated the stigma of mask-wearing on Chinese international students and then how they reversed the rhetoric to make the mask-wearing a mandate and destigmatize the same practice.…”

“…He also embraced the conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was a bioweapon developed by China ( Okediya, 2020 ). The accusation and anti-China rhetoric had led to a chain of hate crimes and Sinophobia in the United States, as Chinese immigrants and international students were found to be the victims of this racism-driven discrimination and crimes ( Okediya, 2020 ; Costello et al, 2021 ; Ma and Miller, 2021 ; Xu et al, 2021 ). Turning accusations and rhetoric into policies, in May 2020, Trump issued his executive order Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry as Nonimmigrants of Certain Students and Researchers from the People’s Republic of China , asserting that Chinese international students were political operatives of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) who engaged in a broad range operation as an attempt to obtain technologies and intellectual property belonging to the United States ( United States, Executive Office of the President [Donald Trump], 2020 ).…”

Cultural humility and racial microaggressions in cross-racial clinical supervision: A moderated mediation model.

“…Additionally, our data were collected during 2020. It is imperative to acknowledge that data were collected during a time period where racism and racist encounters against minoritized groups drastically increased (Costello et al, 2021; Hassoun Ayoub et al, 2023; Wenger et al, 2022). Thus, it is possible our results may have represented a particularly unique snapshot in time that may have impacted the results.…”

“We stand in solidarity with …”: An analysis of university public responses to anti-Asian hate.

“…Although smaller populations of Asian communities may exist in southern states, anti-Asian animus was acutely present in the U.S. South during the pandemic: Texas, Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina were in the top 20 states with the largest number of reported anti-Asian hate incidents nationally (Yellow Horse & Chen, 2022). Beyond in-person altercations, hate incidents have increased significantly in virtual spaces, namely social media (Costello et al, 2021).…”