Hate Speech is a thing! In a first-of-its kind study NYU researchers have shown links between online hate an offline crime. Hate speech on social media outlets are becoming more and more of a norm in today’s society. If you didn’t know, hate crimes are tracked by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, crimes that are motivated by race, ethnicity. and national origin represent the largest portion of hate crimes in the U.S.
In research led by Rumi Chunara, found that ” more targeted, discriminatory tweets are posted in a city related to a higher number of crimes”(Chunara). Although this data may not seem shocking, hate speech has been at an all time high not just on twitter but other social media outlets like Facebook and Instagram. The team at NYU also found that an average of “8% of tweets containing targeted discriminatory language generated by bots”(Hamilton and Harrison). These platforms seem to be slowly becoming used to spew hate to different race and ethnic groups instead of what they were initially created for.
LIS 4022 Spring 2020 