5 key facts about witness intervention

[ad_1]

Arizona Representative Paul Gosar has long been criticized for his extremist views. It fueled the spread of conspiracy theories surrounding the Jan.6 attack on the United States Capitol and the 2017 murderous White Nationalist rally in Charlottesville. More recently, Gosar’s tweet and the posting on Instagram of a video showing him killing Representative Ocasio-Cortez, threatening President Biden and pleading for hostile anti-migrant action at the border increased the threat of racial violence online in politics.

The Sunday night post is not the first time immigrants have been described as an apocalyptic threat by white nationalists. It is also not uncommon for such opinions to be disseminated on online networks, and even by those in power. Social networking sites allow people to share connections and view content generated by other users who participate in this virtual social system. So when President Donald Trump tweeted on March 16, 2020 that “the United States will powerfully support industries, like airlines and others, which are particularly affected by the Chinese virus,” his message of blame towards the community Asian has been broadcast through millions of people. A recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health indicates that this tweet precipitated anti-Asian sentiments through hashtags like # covid19 and #chinesevirus. Twitter permanently suspended Trump in January 2021 over “risk of further incitement to violence.”

Our recent report, “Social Media Witness Intervention,” highlights the need for online responses to the very real threats that can arise from online abuse. We identify effective strategies viewers can use to tackle hate speech and disinformation online. We conducted a quantitative and qualitative analysis of five themes in Twitter tweets and Reddit posts: systemic racism, police brutality, educational inequality, employment and wealth. Some of the conversations were small (n = 2) while others were large (n = 43,186). Each post was assigned a sentiment score using Vader, a tool specially designed for use with micro-blog-sized social media posts. A sentiment analysis assesses how positive or negative the words used in a tweet or reddit post are. Our analysis was visualized and color coded on a gradient scale ranging from red (-1.0 being the most negative) to green (1.0 indicating the most positive) to indicate sentiment score (Click here to access a tool similar to the figure below).

Understanding how people react to racial abuse online has broader implications for effectively building healthy communication, calming anger and frustration, and changing attitudes. Unfortunately, we found that only one in six Twitter threads and just under 40% of Reddit threads involved prosocial viewer action (proof and education as well as content moderation). In the following sections, we outline five lessons from our research that hopefully encourage people to pay attention to their online networks and work to tackle the perpetrators of hate speech and disinformation.

1. White supremacy in the digital age

We have found that people of color are being targeted by organized disinformation efforts using digital technologies. We have identified four main racist discourses that operate on social media: stereotypes, scapegoats, allegations of backward racism and echo chambers. For example, Trump’s March 2020 tweet involves naming a scapegoat in that he blames the Chinese people and China for the spread of the coronavirus in the United States, thereby relieving his government of all responsibility. To fight racism on social media, you have to understand that users who spread racist disinformation do it differently, sometimes worsening multiple forms of racism in a single post.

2. How to act against online abuse

Our research revealed that witness intervention includes phone calls, slurs, efforts to educate or offer evidence, and moderation of content. Like Twitter by removing Trump’s post, content moderation has reduced or eliminated racist dialogue online. Users who objected to Trump’s tweet may also have used the reply feature to express their disapproval. Others prefer to demean the intelligence or morals of those who make racist remarks. Finally, people have responded to racist misinformation by tapping into external sources such as the Brookings Institution studies. This variety of responses implies that social media users have varying views on how best to tackle racism online.

3. Different platforms, different strategies

Despite comparable techniques on Twitter and Reddit, our research found that users use different ways to combat racism online. While both sites emphasized education and evidence, the reactions on Twitter featured more calls, slurs and taunts than the Reddit posts. However, Reddit features have allowed for more moderation, such as bot moderators or negative voting, to respond to racist posts from Reddit. Since platforms differ in the characteristics that shape online interactions, users should consider limitations and opportunities for meaningful intervention depending on the social networking software they are using. As a result, Reddit has incorporated accountability mechanisms that increase prosocial strategies and reduce anti-social strategies.

4. Not all witness intervention strategies work the same.

While there are several techniques for tackling racism online, not all of them are as effective. For example, our study reveals that education and evidence-based or content-moderated speech are prosocial techniques. These reactions to racist messages promote dialogue in the same way they seek to demystify racist rhetoric. On the other hand, some methods, such as calls, ridicule, and slurs, were antisocial. These methods have failed to minimize hostility among users or against people of color. Therefore, internet users who wish to speak out against racism online should think about the purpose of their interactions. If they want to reduce the presence of racism on social media, they need to keep in mind that some approaches can have the opposite effect.

5. We need more witness interventions

While we discovered several intervention tactics, we also found that users of both platforms tended to refrain from interfering in racist conversations altogether. Only about one in six conversations on Twitter and just under 40% of discussions on Reddit included viewer behavior. Considering that “90% of teens report having witnessed bullying online,” the intervention of a bystander is vital. Our report documented the consequences of bullying on mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety and, in the worst case scenario, suicide.

We also suggest that racial minorities may face different types of cyberbullying, experience less empathy from viewers, and in turn have fewer people engaging in spectator intervention when they are. bully victims. The tragedies that occur as a result of under-intervention are what we see in the cases of children like McKenzie Adams, 9, and “Izzy” Tichenor, 10. The very people who were supposed to protect Izzy from abuse stood tall as she and many other black students in Davis School District, Utah were called the N word and taunted by references to monkeys, great apes , slavery, lynching and other racist harassment. A continued lack of spectator intervention from his peers or school administrators contributed to Izzy’s suicide.

“Silence and inaction only proliferate the biased behavior of authors because they feel unchallenged. This is one of the most important implications of our analysis. Targeted assaults can have real consequences on the mental and physical health of a victim. When bystanders step in and help make assaults visible, disarm the situation, educate the abuser, and seek external reinforcement or support, these approaches provide crucial support to prevent some of the more damaging effects. Understanding the best strategies for online bystander intervention is the first step in targeting online aggression. If we are to see a real change in the way social media users discuss racism, we need to foster a digital culture that values ​​prosocial discourse.

[ad_2]