Hate speech on social media and networks

On March 22, the School of Communication held a virtual conference on the analysis of hate speech in (anti) social media and networks given by Javier Jiménez Amores, researcher member of the Observatory of Audiovisual Content (OCA) and of the Department of Sociology and Communication from the University of Salamanca.

Jiménez explained that in recent years a new line of research has been opened very focused on hate crimes, specifically hate speech, using new methodologies, computational methods and Big Data applied to the analysis of social networks.

In addition, he commented that "social networks are becoming (anti) social networks since each time these networks are more for a discourse of confrontation and expression of rejection than for socializing."

In turn, he quoted a phrase from Esteban Ibarra, President of the Movement Against Intolerance of Spain: "Freedom of expression is not freedom of aggression."

The lecturer announced that "everything that has to do with hate crime is contemplated today only in the European context, outside this environment they are still not contemplated, much less in the American context."

Likewise, Jiménez mentioned that the Ministry of the Interior of Spain in 2018 contemplated 8 categories of hate and in 2019 it included three more.

The three main categories where the majority of hate crimes are always collected in Spain and elsewhere are racism / xenophobia, sexual orientation and ideology. Within the categories are: gender reasons, religious beliefs, anti-Semitism, aporophobia, anti-gypsyism, disability, generational discrimination and discrimination due to illness.

"Hate in (anti) social networks spreads in a more direct, explicit, fast and massive way due to various factors, it becomes an uncontrolled and more harmful phenomenon due to the accounts of trolls and replicas of messages," said Jiménez and added : 

 “The increase in hate speech is especially worrying on social networks such as Twitter as a result of the use of pseudonyms and anonymity. In the last year, this social network has updated its code to combat these hateful behaviors on its platform ”.

The researcher concluded that "the strategies to curb online hatred are pressure on social networks, attribution of responsibility to the companies themselves, promotion of self-regulation and implementation of algorithms and computer filters."

UDA Correspondent