This research examines the relationship between race and exposure to online hate material. The utilization of websites, weblogs, newsgroups, online games, radio broadcasts, online newsletters and a myriad of other online platforms has proliferated race-based hate groups in the US (Shafer 2002). According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the number of hate groups has been on the rise since the 1990s and continues to gain momentum with the advent of social media (Potok 2017). Exposure to separatist ideologies has propelled these radical rightwing groups into the mainstream by way of social media platforms, as they are "the most active producers of online hate material" (Costello, Hawdon, Ratliff, and Grantham 2016: pg. 313). That dissemination of radical rightwing ideologies, such as white supremacy, racial purity and racial solidarity, exists is not enough in understanding what individuals are exposed to race-based hate ideologies in online platforms. Exposure is the key to understanding the growth of these race-based hate groups and ways of countering the efforts to disseminate radical rightwing ideologies due to its relationship to hate group emergence and persistence. More so, understanding how these groups target individuals and recruit through social networking sites can provide insight into exposure. Exposure to hate material aids groups in recruiting new members and victimizing potential targets. In the same manner, exposure to hate material is victimization of those who are exposed. In a sample collected by Costello et al. (2016a), of those exposed to hate material online nearly half centered on race. Thus, it is tantamount that research be conducted examining the role that race plays in determining who is exposed to hate material online, and how individuals react to hate material based on race. This dissertation will examine the importance of exposure to hate. Specifically, this dissertation will analyze survey data gathered from the Online Extremism Survey using logistic regression analysis and linear regression to understand exposure to hate material online and routine activity theory. / Ph. D. / This dissertation examines the relationship between race and exposure to online hate material. Race-based hate groups have been using websites, weblogs, newsgroups, online games, radio broadcasts, online newsletters and other online sites to maintain a presence (Shafer 2002). According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the number of hate groups has been on the rise since the 1990s and continues to grow because of social media (Potok 2017). Being exposed to belief systems differ from most others has allowed rightwing groups to become a part of the mainstream because of social media sites. These groups have been responsible for posting the most hate material online over all other types of groups (Costello, Hawdon, Ratliff, and Grantham 2016: pg. 313). It is not enough to understand that radical rightwing beliefs, such as white supremacy, racial purity and racial solidarity, exists. We must identify who is exposed to race-based hate messages in online worlds. Being able to understand who is exposed allows us to determine ways of stopping these efforts to disseminate radical rightwing ideologies. By understanding how these groups post material, and how they target people online will help us understand its relationship to hate group emergence and persistence. More so, understanding how these groups target individuals and recruit through social networking sites can provide insight into exposure. Exposure to hate material aids groups in recruiting new members and victimizing potential targets. In the same manner, exposure to hate material is victimization of those who are exposed. In a sample collected by Costello et al. (2016a), of those exposed to hate material online nearly half centered on race. Thus, it is very important that research be conducted examining the role that race plays in determining who is exposed to hate material online, and how individuals react to hate material based on race. This dissertation will examine the importance of exposure to hate. Specifically, this dissertation will analyze survey data gathered from the Online Extremism Survey using statistical methods to understand exposure to hate material online and routine activity theory.

Web 2.0 opened up for a lot of opportunities, digital spaces became open for everyone to participate. But if groups of people get harassed and threatened in this spaces, how does that affect participation? Threats, hateful comments and harassment is a phenomenon that appears to be a common part of life online. Some groups of people may experience this more then others. To investigate this further a qualitative study was conducted using two different methods of internet research; observation and interview online. I wanted to study how cyber hate take the expression against female bloggers that write about feminism. The women that participated in this study have all been harassed and received threats online of various kinds. The blogs that were observed all write about subjects that question and criticize social structures and norms that many take for granted. This seems to spark hatred and threats against these female bloggers. The interviewed bloggers had different strategies for dealing with cyber hate they received. One example of this is that they all review the comments before posted on the blog. A problem that a majority of the bloggers expressed was that general public and the justice system did not take cyber hate seriously. Some people that threats and post hateful comments do that with their full name exposed.  The study indicates that anonymity didn’t play that big part, as first expected, in how people expresses themselves online.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-05-10T12:55:18Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Denis Augusto Carneiro Lobo.pdf: 2377689 bytes, checksum: ec66c81fcf1d6584b5311171b0eae5c2 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-10T12:55:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Denis Augusto Carneiro Lobo.pdf: 2377689 bytes, checksum: ec66c81fcf1d6584b5311171b0eae5c2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-04-09 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This master’s thesis analyses the constitution of the so-called Hate Speech in Digital Social Networks (DSNs), specifically, on Facebook. Starting from users’ text interactions in public Facebook pages of the 2014 presidential candidates Dilma Rousseff (Workers Party) and Aécio Neves (Brazilian Social Democracy Party) during the presidential run (August to October 2014), I’ve searched for the characterization of this phenomena within a political-party polarization scenario. Focusing in the political constitution of the referred phenomena, I’ve then evidenced the difference between the legal concept of Hate Speech and a more widespread phenomena, which worked in this scenario as a political component of the social interactions: the political hate. Furthermore, the debate gets centralized in the mediation process of social interactions in an Instant Communication Technology (ICTs) scenario, in search of a confluence with the Latin American studies about the process of technological and communicational mediation, its diferences and implications in an Interactional Sociology. Finally, having analysed such studies as a theorical and methodological background, I've presented a discussion about the importance of the new computational techniques such as "filter bubbles", "social bots" and User Experience (UX) in the daily life of today's liberal democracies, leading the debate to the establishment of "fear techniques", clearly an expression of the so-called "Fear Culture", to which many authors refeer today / Esta dissertação analisou a constituição do chamado Discurso de Ódio nas Redes Sociais Digitais (RSDs), mais especificamente no Facebook. Partindo das interações textuais dos usuários nas páginas públicas dos candidatos à Presidência da República no ano de 2014, Dilma Rousseff (PT) e Aécio Neves (PSDB), durante o pleito eleitoral (agosto a outubro de 2014), buscou-se a caracterização desse fenômeno dentro de um cenário de polarização político-partidária. Voltando o olhar para a constituição política do fenômeno em questão, buscou-se a diferenciação da figura jurídica do Discurso de Ódio de um fenômeno mais capilar, que funcionou como componente político das interações societárias nesse cenário: o ódio político. Além disso, centralizamos o debate nas interações sociais e na mediação das Tecnologias de Comunicação Instantânea (TCIs), buscando uma confluência com o pensamento latino-americano sobre os processos de mediação tecnológica e comunicacional e suas diferenciações e implicações em uma Sociologia Interacionista. Buscou-se também, a partir desse arcabouço teórico-metodológico, discutir os pesos das novas técnicas computacionais, como a “bolha de filtros”, os “social bots”, “fake news” e as técnicas de User Experience (UX) no cotidiano das democracias liberais atuais, direcionando o debate para o estabelecimento de “técnicas do medo”, visivelmente assentados na chamada “Cultura do Medo”, a qual muitos pesquisadores recorrem na atualidade

Näthat är idag en förväntad nackdel av att använda internet och sociala medier. Även när hatet är riktat mot en individ blir det oftast en attack mot en kollektiv identitet. Syftet med studien var att analysera vilka normer och ideologier som främjas i hatkommentarer och hur de samspelar med varandra baserat på mottagarens kön, ålder, hudfärg och sexualitet. Totalt analyserades kommentarer från åtta videoklipp publicerade på Youtube, fyra vardera spel- respektive sminkbranschen. Genom att använda ett Python script och Googles’ Perspective API, kunde kommentarer med en viss nivå av toxicitet väljas från videoklippens kommentarsfält. Sedan analyserades kommentarerna av författarna utifrån olika diskurskritiska kriterier utifrån metoden kritisk diskursanalys. Analysen visade att nationalism och misogyni var de största ideologierna bakom hatkommentarerna och många avsändare hade tydligt använt olika härskartekniker. Förutom de nämnda ideologierna, hittades även patriarkat och skönhetsideologin. Resultaten visade att även fast det är samma ideologi bakom flera hatkommentarer, vad som specifikt attackeras och kritiseras varierar beroende på mottagarens kön, ålder, hudfärg och sexualitet. För framtida studier skulle en liknande analys kunna göras fast med fokus på hur mycket och vilken sorts näthat personer med färre följare och engagemang får. / Online hate is an expected downside of using the internet and even when hate is solely targeted towards an individual, it becomes an attack on a collective identity. The purpose of this study was to examine which norms and ideologies could be found in hate comments and how they interact with each other – based on gender, age, skin colour, and the sexuality of the receivers. In total, the comments of eight YouTube videos were examined. Four in the gaming genre and four in the beauty genre. Using a Python script and Google’s Perspective API, comments above a certain toxic threshold were taken from the videos which were then analysed by the authors based on different criteria. The analysations were done using critical discourse analysis. The analysis showed that nationalism and misogyny were the main ideologies behind the hate comments and multiple comments used master suppression techniques. In addition to the mentioned ideologies, patriarch and the ideology of beauty were also found. The results show that even if the same ideology is behind multiple hate comments, what is being attacked or criticised varied depending on the receiver’s gender, age, skin colour, and sexuality. Due to many of the youtubers having a big following and engagement, many of their followers defended them against online hate. For future studies, a similar analysis could be done but with a focus on people with less followers and engagements.

Det finns många fördelar med sociala medier men likväl flera baksidor. Baksidorna inom denna kontext inkluderar kränkningar, trakasserier och hot. Näthat som begrepp är dessutom svårdefinierat, vilket gör ämnet än mer relevant att diskutera. För att lyfta diskussionen kring näthat på sociala medier ämnar detta projekt utforma en prototyp till en interaktiv produkt för unga. Den interaktiva produkten ska fungera i undervisningen på högstadie- och gymnasienivå som ett engagerande verktyg gällande näthat. Syftet med projektet är således att engagera unga gällande näthat på sociala medier. För att skapa en prototyp till en interaktiv produkt som engagerar unga gällande näthat på sociala medier ansåg vi experter och potentiella användare relevanta att undersöka. Projektet genomfördes därför med en kvalitativ forskningsansats genom enskilda intervjuer samt fokusgrupper. De enskilda intervjuerna genomfördes med experter inom området näthat och fokusgrupper med potentiella användare, i åldersspannet 13–19 år. Resultatet från undersökningen analyserades utifrån projektets teoretiska ramverk i form av motstrategier på sociala medier, interaktionsdesign och serious games. Därefter lyfte vi fram de teman som var extra framträdande och av störst relevans för projektet. Det empiriska materialet användes således för att identifiera de krav och behov den interaktiva produkten bör uppfylla. Projektet visar att den interaktiva produkten bör kunna användas regelbundet och vara av spelkaraktär. Vi identifierade tre framträdande kategorier som extra viktiga att inkludera i vår prototyp; motstrategier, definitionen av näthat samt genus. Utefter resultatet från projektet skapade vi en prototyp till ett interaktivt spel i form av en mobilapplikation med integrerad diskussion i klassrummet. / There are many benefits with social media but nevertheless several downsides. The downsides within this context includes violations, harassment and threats. Online hate speech as a concept is difficult to define, which makes the question even more relevant to discuss. In order to highlight the discussion about online hate speech on social media, this project will design a prototype for an interactive product adapted for youngsters. The interactive product shall work as an engaging complement when teaching youngsters about online hate speech. To create an interactive product who engage youngsters regarding online hate speech on social media we deemed experts and potential users as relevant to examine. The project therefore implemented a qualitative research approach through individual interviews and focus groups. The individual interviews were implemented with experts within the field of online hate speech and the focus groups with potential users, 13–19-year-olds. The results of the examination were analyzed based on the project’s theoretical framework, in the form of counter-strategies on social media, interaction design and serious games. The most prominent themes and the ones of the highest relevance for the project were subsequently highlighted. The empirical material was used to identify the requirements and needs that the interactive product should meet. The project shows that the interactive product should be able to be used regularly and be of game character. Three prominent categories were identified as extra important to include in our prototype; counter strategies, the definition of online hate speech and gender issues. Following the results from the project, a prototype was created for an interactive game in the form of a mobile application with integrated discussion in the classroom.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI) are discriminated and subjected to violence in societies across the world, and ensuring their rights is on the international agenda. On a European level, nationalism, state-led persecution and rhetoric of hate have slowed down the process of ensuring human rights for LGBTI people particularly in Eastern Europe, where they are subject to violence, discrimination and hostility. One type of hostility targeting LGBTI people is hate speech. As literature has shown, hate speech can have harmful effects on its targets. Additionally, with the increased accessibility and use of the Internet and social media networks, hate speech has become more widespread and new challenges have appeared. Our research objective has addressed the gap identified by Brown (2018); to contribute to the research on hate speech and its harmful effects in general, comparing the effects of online and offline hate speech in particular. Additionally, by comparing the findings from Moldova and Ukraine, we have investigated if the context in which the hate speech is produced has any effect on the harmful effects experienced by targets. The research was conducted using a mixed method with a parallel convergent design, giving equal priority to qualitative and quantitative data. Data collection took place in Moldova (Chisinau) and in Ukraine (Kyiv) during Pride in the respective countries. Due to the nature of this research, results are not representative, and conclusions drawn can neither be applied to the entire LGBTI community in Moldova nor in Ukraine. Conclusions can, however, provide interesting insights for further research. Constitutive and consequential harms from online and offline hate speech are experienced by the LGBTI activists and community in both countries. In terms of constitutive harms, LGBTI community have suffered from harms like negative impact on self-esteem, silencing, psychological distress and restrictions on freedom of movement and association. Experienced consequential harms were negative stereotyping, physical violence and normalization of discrimination. Further, this research indicated that there is a difference in terms of harms caused by online and offline hate speech when it comes to the constitutive harms, as the harms from offline hate speech seemed to be experienced to a larger extent. Comparing results from Moldova and Ukraine, it can be concluded that the content of hate speech and harmful effects of hate speech are experienced differently depending on the context in which hate speech was produced. In general, hate speech in Ukraine seemed to be more violent and aggressive while in Moldova it was more related to the structural violence.

Studien syftar till att undersöka hur Polisen i Malmös arbete mot näthat bland unga, i synnerhet sådant näthat som tenderar att eskalera till fysisk misshandel, bedrivs och upplevs idag. Vidare avser studien att utforska om, och i så fall hur, detta arbete kan effektiviseras, såväl utifrån enskilda polisers som ungdomars perspektiv. För att fylla studiens syfte tillämpas en kvalitativ ansats, vilken utgörs av semistrukturerade intervjuer och en fokusgrupp. All insamlad data analyseras genom tematisk analys, där underlaget från poliserna bland annat mynnat ut i teman som: Internet som startpunkt för fysiska konflikter, missnöjdhet över dagens preventiva arbete mot näthat och förbättringsåtgärder online. Datamaterialet från ungdomarna återspeglas i sin tur genom teman som: Anonymitet som accelerator för näthat, önskan om ökad polisiär närvaro online samt förhållningssätt på sociala medier. Slutligen integreras samtliga datamaterial i en resultatdiskussion, varpå några av studiens viktigaste slutsatser är: 1) Polisen i Malmös arbete mot näthat bland unga, i synnerhet sådant näthat som tenderar att leda till fysisk misshandel, upplevs idag vara mycket bristfälligt, 2) Polisen bör i större utsträckning följa internets utveckling samt de trender och brottstriggande beteenden som cirkulerar på sociala medier bland unga, samt 3) Polisens arbete kan förslagsvis förbättras genom att öka närvaron på de plattformar där ungdomar främst uppehåller sig, såväl som att öka närvaron på och samverkan med skolor, fritidsgårdar och andra sociala aktörer.

The rapid expansion of technology has posed challenges in moderating hateful content on social media platforms, particularly in non-text formats like TikTok videos. This study addresses a significant gap in scholarly research by examining the intersection of TikTok and journalistic content within the Ethiopian diaspora community. The research aims to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of hate speech in ethnic-based social media platforms operated by the Ethiopian diaspora, focusing on two prominent platforms: Ethio 360 Media and Gadaa Media Network (Gadaa MN), representing the Amhara and Oromo ethnic groups, respectively. Employing content analysis methodology, the study examines a hundred TikTok video clips from these platforms, drawing upon the theoretical framework of Framing Theory. This framework encompasses Frame Amplification, Frame Transformation, and Frame Contest, allowing for the identification of distinct patterns in hate speech language and content presentation between the two platforms. Key findings highlight several significant insights: (1) Both Ethio 360 Media and Gadaa MN exhibit similarities in hate speech, particularly in incitement of violence or threats. However, Ethio 360 Media employs uniquely demeaning and dehumanizing language, absent in Gadaa MN's journalistic content; (2) Analysis of hate speech types reveals differences in prevalence and focus within journalistic content, with both platforms engaging in politics-based hate speech but disparities emerging in ethnicity-based hate speech; (3) Examination of targeted entities unveils differing framing strategies, with both platforms targeting the Ethiopian government but diverging in their approaches toward other entities such as the Oromo ethnic group and educational institution; (4) Analysis of news coverage genres indicates variations in content presentation, with Ethio 360 Media relying more on commentary while Gadaa MN focuses predominantly on straight newscasts; (5) Exploration of news coverage areas reveals distinct content focuses between the two platforms, with Ethio 360 Media covering Ethiopia as a whole and various regions within the country, while Gadaa MN primarily focuses on the Oromia Region, occasionally covering foreign countries or regions.

This study was conducted to identify and analyse Mail and Guardian Online moderation outputs which contradicted the platform‟s own stated policy on hate speech and other forms of problematic speech. The moderation outputs considered were a battery of readers‟ comments that were posted in response to Thought Leader blogs on xenophobia published between May and June, 2008. This was the same period a series of xenophobic attacks was taking place in some parts of South Africa, leaving an estimated 62 people dead, more than 30,000 displaced, and countless victims injured and robbed of their property. The attacks were a catalytic moment that enabled a whole range of discursive positions to be articulated, defended, contested and given form in the media. They also made visible the potential tensions between free speech on the one hand, and hate and other problematic speech on the other. Using qualitative methods of thematic content analysis, document review, individual interviews, and an eclectic approach of framing analysis and rhetorical argumentation, this study found instances of divergence between the M&G policy and practice on User Generated Content. It found that some moderator-approved content advocated hate, hatred, hostility, incitement to violence and/or harm, and unfair discrimination against foreign residents, contrary to the M&G policy which is informed by the constitutional provisions in both section 16 of the Bill of Rights and section 10 of the Equality Act. Based on examples in the readers‟ comments of how „the foreigner‟ was made to signify unemployment, poverty, disease, unfair competition, and all manner of deprivation, and bearing in mind how such individuals have also become a site for the violent convergence of different unresolved tensions in the country, the study‟s findings argue that the M&G – a progressive paper dealing with a potentially xenophobic readership (at least a portion of it) – should have implemented its policy on acceptable speech more effectively. The study also argues that the unjustifiable reference to foreigners as makwerekwere, illegals, illegal aliens, parasites, invaders and border jumpers, among other terms, assigned them a diminished place – that of unwanted foreigner – thereby reproducing the order of discourse that utilises nationality as a space for the expurgation of the „other‟. The study argues that the use of bogus (inflated) immigration statistics and repeated reference to the foreigners‟ supposedly parasitic relationship to the country‟s resources also unfairly constructed them as the „threatening other‟ and potentially justified action against them.

Titel: When online hate becomes a threat to democracy - a qualitative study about editorial writers experiences of online hate The aim of this study has been to, through an intersectional gender perspective, identify how interviewed editorial writers at Swedish newspapers experiences, and are affected by, online hate and how the effects of online hate could have consequences for the democratic function of journalism. This has been done through qualitative interviews with eight editorial writers from different Swedish newspapers, four female and four male, two of which has another ethnic background than Swedish. The theoretical framework for the study has been intersectional gender theory, the theory of participatory culture and Sara Ahmed’s theory of the link between emotion and rhetoric. The results of the study are categorised into four different themes: ”Racist online hate”, ”Sexist online hate”, ”Emotional online hate” and ”Consequences of online hate”. The results show that female editorial writers with another ethnic background than Swedish are getting an disproportionate amount of racist and sexist online hate because of their gender and ethnicity. Further, the study shows that female editorial writers are exposed to sexism which is something that is absent in the online hate directed towards the male writers The male editorial writers tends to reduce their experiences of online hate, even though some of them are or have been exposed to aggravated libel, on the grounds that female colleagues are worse affected. The study shows that subjects that trigger online hate are integration, feminism, national security and Romany beggars. The consequences of online hate that the editorial writers identifies are very individual. The ones that are worst exposed tell stories about personal consequences such as fear of safety in public, need of protected identities and self-censorship. The ones that don’t consider themselves very affected by online hate talk more about societal consequences such as the threat of online haters tone becoming the norm on the internet, the need of  common guidelines for social media, and a threat against the freedom of speech. The conclusion of the study is that the experiences of online hate is very individual for the editorial writers, but there are clear structures that shows that women and persons with another ethnic background that Swedish are exposed to sexist and racist online hate. Some subject are triggering for online hate and there are consequences, such as self-censorship, that can be seen as threats to democracy and freedom of speech. Keywords: social media, online hate, hate speech, editorial writer, journalism, media, democracy, freedom of speech, gender, race, ethnicity, participatory culture, sexism, racism, emotional rhetoric