Online Hate and Harmful Content: Cross-National Perspectives

Description

Over the past few decades, various types of hate material have caused increasing concern. Today, the scope of hate is wider than ever, as easy and often-anonymous access to an enormous amount of online content has opened the Internet up to both use and abuse. By providing possibilities for inexpensive and instantaneous access without ties to geographic location or a user identification system, the Internet has permitted hate groups and individuals espousing hate to transmit their ideas to a worldwide audience. Online Hate and Harmful Content focuses on the role of potentially harmful online content, particularly among young people. This focus is explored through two approaches: firstly, the commonality of online hate through cross-national survey statistics. This includes a discussion of the various implications of online hate for young people in terms of, for example, subjective wellbeing, trust, self-image and social relationships. Secondly, the book examines theoretical frameworks from the fields of sociology, social psychology and criminology that are useful for understanding online behaviour and online victimisation. Limitations of past theory are assessed and complemented with a novel theoretical model linking past work to the online environment as it exists today. An important and timely volume in this ever-changing digital age, this book is suitable for graduates and undergraduates interested in the fields of Internet and new media studies, social psychology and criminology. The analyses and findings of the book are also particularly relevant to practitioners and policy-makers working in the areas of Internet regulation, crime prevention, child protection and social work/youth work. Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 List of illustrations......Page 8 About the authors......Page 10 Acknowledgements......Page 11 1.1 Introduction......Page 12 1.2 From new media to social media......Page 15 1.3 Beyond social media......Page 18 1.4 Youth and culture of risk......Page 21 1.5 The dividing Internet......Page 23 2.1 Expanded interaction and social media......Page 29 2.2 Social identity theory and online setting......Page 33 2.3 From individual self to group self......Page 36 2.4 Social identity issues: online versus offline interaction......Page 40 2.5 Social identity, Internet anonymity and online risk......Page 43 3.1 The conditions of risk......Page 50 3.2 Starting points for understanding victimisation......Page 51 3.3 A comparison of LET and RAT......Page 55 3.4 Theoretical gaps in Internet research......Page 56 4.1 From bigotry to hate crime......Page 64 4.2 Organised hate groups......Page 67 4.3 Everyday hate and social media......Page 69 4.4 Exposure to online hate from a cross-national perspective......Page 72 4.5 Hate takes new forms......Page 80 5.1 Potentially harmful or always harmful?......Page 86 5.2 Victimisation by hate, harassment and crime online......Page 87 5.3 Impacts on wellbeing......Page 89 5.4 Associations between personal victimisation and social relations......Page 94 5.5 Often harmful, always disturbing......Page 96 6.1 Extreme becoming mainstream......Page 100 6.2 The scope of harm-advocating online content......Page 101 6.3 Harm-advocating content from a cross-national perspective......Page 107 6.4 Harm-advocating content and its associations with wellbeing......Page 109 6.5 The downward spiral of negative online behaviour......Page 113 7.1 The changing social milieu......Page 120 7.2 Internet and the stratification of hate......Page 121 7.3 Evolution of online hate......Page 123 7.4 The online user experience and expression of hate......Page 124 7.5 New theoretical tools for examining online hate......Page 127 7.6 The interaction between aggressors and targets online......Page 129 7.7 Identity Bubble Reinforcement model (IBR model)......Page 132 8.1 Information, anonymity and social networks......Page 140 8.2 Bubbles and interaction challenges......Page 142 8.3 Bringing it all together......Page 144 8.4 Final reflections......Page 147 Index......Page 151