HATE SPEECH IN THE ROMANIAN ONLINE MEDIA AND ITS IMPACT ON PEOPLE'S CIVIC ENGAGEMENT WITH THE ROMA MINORITY

In addition to their potential to stimulate conversation and participation in the (online) public sphere, social media have also become a springboard for hate speech (KhosraviNik & Esposito, 2018). Ethnic minorities are among the preferred targets of online hateful content. In this paper, we rep...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRevista română de sociologie Vol. 34; no. 1/2; pp. 21 - 42
Main Authors Negrea-Busuioc, Elena, Buturoiu, Raluca, Oprea, Denisa-Adriana, Boţan, Mădălina
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bucuresti Institutul de Sociologie al Academiei Romane 01.01.2023
Subjects
Citizen participation
Hate speech
Internet
Internet access
Mass media effects
Minority & ethnic groups
Minority groups
Public sphere
Romani people
Social exclusion
Social media
Social networks
Romania
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Summary:In addition to their potential to stimulate conversation and participation in the (online) public sphere, social media have also become a springboard for hate speech (KhosraviNik & Esposito, 2018). Ethnic minorities are among the preferred targets of online hateful content. In this paper, we report findings from an experiment that measured the extent to which exposure to various degrees of hate speech on Facebook, accompanied by positive or negative comments, might influence Romanians' willingness to engage civically with the Roma minority. The results show that the level of civic engagement is negatively impacted by exposure to hateful content, ranging from derogatory to extreme hate speech. People's willingness to support the Roma minority is reduced by exposure to hateful Facebook posts accompanied by negative comments. Furthermore, negative comments are associated with lower levels of civic engagement, which may suggest that reactions to hate speech could play a more significant role than the post itself.
ISSN:1224-9262
2392-8549