The Normalization of Hatred: Identity, Affective Polarization, and Dehumanization on Facebook in the Context of Intractable Political Conflict

Harel, Tal Orian; Jameson, Jessica Katz; Maoz, Ifat

doi:10.1177/2056305120913983

Cited by 60 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Scholars are also increasingly raising concerns that bridging social capital is endangered in online social networks by platforms' algorithms (31,32). There is growing evidence suggesting that the way in which platforms' algorithms deliver content may be inducing echo chambers, online incivility, and hate speech, all of which in turn contributes to polarization and further exacerbates societal problems (33)(34)(35), which can be particularly problematic within politically fragile or ethnically polarized societies.…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the effects of Facebook usage in an ethnically polarized setting

Asimovic

Nagler

Bonneau

et al. 2021

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Despite the belief that social media is altering intergroup dynamics—bringing people closer or further alienating them from one another—the impact of social media on interethnic attitudes has yet to be rigorously evaluated, especially within areas with tenuous interethnic relations. We report results from a randomized controlled trial in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), exploring the effects of exposure to social media during 1 wk around genocide remembrance in July 2019 on a set of interethnic attitudes of Facebook users. We find evidence that, counter to preregistered expectations, people who deactivated their Facebook profiles report lower regard for ethnic outgroups than those who remained active. Moreover, we present additional evidence suggesting that this effect is likely conditional on the level of ethnic heterogeneity of respondents’ residence. We also extend the analysis to include measures of subjective well-being and knowledge of news. Here, we find that Facebook deactivation leads to suggestive improvements in subjective wellbeing and a decrease in knowledge of current events, replicating results from recent research in the United States in a very different context, thus increasing our confidence in the generalizability of these effects.

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Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the effects of Facebook usage in an ethnically polarized setting

Asimovic

Nagler

Bonneau

et al. 2021

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Firstly, users may deliberately join these platforms to express hate speech and seek out similar extreme content for themselves (Pauwels & Schils, 2016). Alternatively, users may over-express hate speech in their initial posts to 'prove' group membership, loyalty, and to gain acceptance by other in-group members (Doosje et al, 2016;Harel, Jameson, & Maoz, 2020). Offline evidence suggests that peripheral members of a desirable ingroup derogate an outgroup in public to enhance status, even if they do not hold this attitude in private (Noel, Wann, & Branscombe, 1995).…”

Section: Evidence For Pre-existing Prejudicementioning

confidence: 99%

Hate Contagion: Measuring the spread and trajectory of hate on social media

Jd¹,

Bright²

2021

Preprint

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Online hate speech is a growing concern, with minorities and vulnerable groups increasingly targeted with extreme denigration and hostility. The drivers of hate speech expression on social media are unclear, however. This study explores how hate speech develops on a fringe social media platform popular with the far-right, Gab. We investigate whether users seek out this platform in order to express hate, or whether instead they develop these opinions over time through a mechanism of socialisation, as they interact with other users on the platform. We find a positive association between the time users spend on the platform and their hate speech expression. We show that while some users do arrive on these platforms with pre-existing hate stances, others develop these expressions as they get exposed to the hateful opinions of others. Our analysis reveals how hate speech develops online, the important role of the group environment in accelerating its development, and gives valuable insight to inform the development of counter measures.

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“…When India was reeling under the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic in 2020, the above challenges to achieving social solidarity played out. In a climate of majoritarian politics and othering of minorities, scapegoating of Muslims in the news media and on social media increased especially on Facebook (Al Qaseemi, 2020; Harel, Jameson, & Maoz, 2020). In this study, we explore empirically how political partisanship, affective polarization, social identity, and social media influenced public opinion and attitudes about how to accord or allay blame.…”

Section: Social Identity and Political Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Harel et al (2020) found that hate speech online can lead to violence especially in a polarized climate. Hate speech posted online in India may take different forms.…”

Section: Social Identity and Political Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The COVID‐19–Social Identity–Digital Media Nexus in India: Polarization and Blame

Basavaraj

Saikia

Varughese

et al. 2021

Political Psychology

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Drawing on social identity theory and research on digital media and polarization, this study uses a quasi‐experimental design with a random sample (n = 3304) to provide causal evidence on perceptions of who is to blame for the initial spread of COVID‐19 in India. According blame to three different social and political entities—Tablighi Jamaat (a Muslim group), the Modi government, and migrant workers (a heterogeneous group)—are the dependent variables in three OLS regression models testing the effect of the no‐blame treatment, controlling for Facebook use, social identity (religion), vote in the 2019 national election, and other demographics. Results show respondents in the treatment group were more likely to allay blame, affective polarization (dislike for outgroup members) was social identity based, not partisan based, and Facebook/Instagram use was not significant. Congress and United Progressive Alliance voters in 2019 were less likely to blame the Modi government for the initial spread. Unlike extant research in western contexts, affective and political polarization appear to be distinct concepts in India where social identity complexity is important. This study of the first wave informs perceptions of blame in future waves, which are discussed in conclusion along with questions for future research.

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The Normalization of Hatred: Identity, Affective Polarization, and Dehumanization on Facebook in the Context of Intractable Political Conflict

Cited by 60 publications

References 28 publications

Testing the effects of Facebook usage in an ethnically polarized setting

Testing the effects of Facebook usage in an ethnically polarized setting

Hate Contagion: Measuring the spread and trajectory of hate on social media

The COVID‐19–Social Identity–Digital Media Nexus in India: Polarization and Blame

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