Media & Digitale Samenleving Les 3. Online hate 2022-2023
Media & Digitale Samenleving: Les 3.
Inhoudstafel:
1) Hoorcollege: online hate speech........................................................................................................ 2
Understanding human emotions .................................................................................................... 2
Trust................................................................................................................................................. 2
Hate ................................................................................................................................................. 4
Disgust ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Online hate ...................................................................................................................................... 5
2) Podcast: wat doe je als je online gepest wordt? ............................................................................... 6
3) Paper: online hate speech .................................................................................................................. 9
1. WHAT IS ONLINE HATE SPEECH? ............................................................................................... 10
2. HATE - AN EMOTION ................................................................................................................. 10
3. GLOBALIZATION OF HATE .......................................................................................................... 11
4. VICTIMS OF HATE ...................................................................................................................... 11
5. HATE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE VICTIMS ....................................................................... 14
6. HATE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE PERPETRATORS ........................................................... 15
7. HATE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE BYSTANDERS ............................................................... 16
8. COUNTER-COMMUNICATION ................................................................................................... 17
9. CONTENT MODERATION ........................................................................................................... 19
10. PSYCHO-EDUCATION ............................................................................................................... 22
1
,Media & Digitale Samenleving Les 3. Online hate 2022-2023
M&DS: Les 3. Online hate speech
Understanding human emotions
there is tons of research on anger, joy, depression, curiosity, surprise, … but almost no research on hatred
What is hate and why does it exist?
Quote ‘fear is the path to the dark side’
hidden assumptions: there are good and bad emotions, and bad emotions have to be suppressed and fought
this is not correct: fear is a good emotion that prepares you for the fight or flight response
All human emotions evolved for a reason, we don’t have emotions that make us less adapted
Fear = adaptive response to our environment. Anger = adaptive response (aggression to protect ourselves)
What about hate, why does hate exist? Wouldn’t the world be better if we never hated? Probably not.
Hate has a function. To understand we have to look at the basics of human emotions:
Trust
Living in group has many benefits, we protect each other, but it can also be dangerous: betrayal
̵ to be able to live together we had to develop trust
̵ Trust = the confidence in predicting the behavior of the other person
o how do animals form trust: social grooming, play fight, show belly (venerability)
o how do humans form trust: it’s easier to predict behavior of individuals similar to us
o we predict others’ behavior based on what we would do if we were in their shoes
̵ Chameleon effect = reflective sharing of the same posture, mannerisms and facial
expressions causes people to like each other more
o we look for similarities to ourselves everywhere
o the higher the synchrony in people the higher mutual interest in each other
o even our brain activity is similar to people we trust, especially romantic partners
o we can imitate behavior to create the chameleon effect,
but our brain waves/nervous systems synchronize at a biological level
̵ the essence of this = empathy
o one of the components of empathy = perspective thinking
o to put yourself in someone else’s shoes: simulate what others think/feel in our brain
o the more similar we are, the better we are at predicting their behavior,
because we don’t need as much brain power to simulate what they think
̵ when we meet others that look different, the reflex is to distrust
̵ because you’re not certain if you can accurately predict their behavior therefore trust them
̵ plummeting of trust when you think you know what someone is going to do, then they do something
entirely different. you’re shocked & have to re-evaluate your mental model of the person
o example: you’re a couple and someone cheats
o your trust in predicting the other person is dissolved person becomes a thread
o you will react how you would to a thread: with stress fight or flight response
2
, Media & Digitale Samenleving Les 3. Online hate 2022-2023
Social norms and Ostracism
̵ norms: what we think others should act like what is allowed & disallowed
̵ we create norms by learning how others act
o class: expected to sit and listen to teacher, if someone stands up during class violation of
teachers’ trust in predicting students behavior student becomes threat to teacher
̵ we create norms not only about behaviours but also about traits
o if everyone where I grew up was white, we expect humans to be white
o if someone violates this ‘norm’ the reflex will be to distrust
exposure is the stepping stone for tolerance and trust in each other
seeing different people is the only way to believe that we are safe around them
̵ ostracism = when someone breaks the social norm what happens:
o when the student gets up during class, they violated norm & trust punishment by
removing them from the group (as an effort to restore the trust in the group)
̵ we fear being ostracized from groups because we have evolved to survive in a group
o to survive we cooperate (hunting, share resources, protecting each other)
o those who did not have that fear are more prone to breaking social norms and being
ostracized chances of survival plummet (can’t make it on your own)
̵ rejection hurt shows in our brain
o our neural reaction responsible for processing physical pain
o is also responsible for processing being rejected (social pain)
we desperately need trust to function as a social group
we build expectations (norms) on how other will act based on our past experiences
sometimes we abstract those norms from things that we shouldn’t
Economy of cognitive processes (wat er in ons hoofd omgaat)
̵ the economy of cognitive processes: we are picky about what we spend time thinking about
o when we meet a new person, we don’t get to know every detail about them
o it would take too much time and energy and we usually don’t care
we will assume things, not because they are true, but because it would take too
much energy to think about who they really are
̵ stereotypes: judging groups of people based on qualities observed without much effort,
then focussing on negative aspects
o many stereotype stories about racist people:
they will have 1 friend of a different race and say ‘they are different, they are one of
the good ones’ because they got to know them and understand them as a person
but they are not willing to treat everyone equal
Negativity bias (negativiteit vooroordelen)
we blame the media for only showing negative news, but we do this do ourselves
̵ humans have tendency to focus on the negative evolutionary perspective:
o learning what berries to eat: we have to focus on what berries not to eat so we don’t die
o death = permanent, happiness = fleeting we have to be alive in order to feel positivity
̵ hence news, social media and gossip focused on negativity
o humans love gossip, it’s something that binds us as a group builds trust
o telling negativity about another person says ‘I would never do that’
o you’re ostracizing another person
o most friendships start by hating the same thing
3
Media & Digitale Samenleving: Les 3.
Inhoudstafel:
1) Hoorcollege: online hate speech........................................................................................................ 2
Understanding human emotions .................................................................................................... 2
Trust................................................................................................................................................. 2
Hate ................................................................................................................................................. 4
Disgust ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Online hate ...................................................................................................................................... 5
2) Podcast: wat doe je als je online gepest wordt? ............................................................................... 6
3) Paper: online hate speech .................................................................................................................. 9
1. WHAT IS ONLINE HATE SPEECH? ............................................................................................... 10
2. HATE - AN EMOTION ................................................................................................................. 10
3. GLOBALIZATION OF HATE .......................................................................................................... 11
4. VICTIMS OF HATE ...................................................................................................................... 11
5. HATE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE VICTIMS ....................................................................... 14
6. HATE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE PERPETRATORS ........................................................... 15
7. HATE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE BYSTANDERS ............................................................... 16
8. COUNTER-COMMUNICATION ................................................................................................... 17
9. CONTENT MODERATION ........................................................................................................... 19
10. PSYCHO-EDUCATION ............................................................................................................... 22
1
,Media & Digitale Samenleving Les 3. Online hate 2022-2023
M&DS: Les 3. Online hate speech
Understanding human emotions
there is tons of research on anger, joy, depression, curiosity, surprise, … but almost no research on hatred
What is hate and why does it exist?
Quote ‘fear is the path to the dark side’
hidden assumptions: there are good and bad emotions, and bad emotions have to be suppressed and fought
this is not correct: fear is a good emotion that prepares you for the fight or flight response
All human emotions evolved for a reason, we don’t have emotions that make us less adapted
Fear = adaptive response to our environment. Anger = adaptive response (aggression to protect ourselves)
What about hate, why does hate exist? Wouldn’t the world be better if we never hated? Probably not.
Hate has a function. To understand we have to look at the basics of human emotions:
Trust
Living in group has many benefits, we protect each other, but it can also be dangerous: betrayal
̵ to be able to live together we had to develop trust
̵ Trust = the confidence in predicting the behavior of the other person
o how do animals form trust: social grooming, play fight, show belly (venerability)
o how do humans form trust: it’s easier to predict behavior of individuals similar to us
o we predict others’ behavior based on what we would do if we were in their shoes
̵ Chameleon effect = reflective sharing of the same posture, mannerisms and facial
expressions causes people to like each other more
o we look for similarities to ourselves everywhere
o the higher the synchrony in people the higher mutual interest in each other
o even our brain activity is similar to people we trust, especially romantic partners
o we can imitate behavior to create the chameleon effect,
but our brain waves/nervous systems synchronize at a biological level
̵ the essence of this = empathy
o one of the components of empathy = perspective thinking
o to put yourself in someone else’s shoes: simulate what others think/feel in our brain
o the more similar we are, the better we are at predicting their behavior,
because we don’t need as much brain power to simulate what they think
̵ when we meet others that look different, the reflex is to distrust
̵ because you’re not certain if you can accurately predict their behavior therefore trust them
̵ plummeting of trust when you think you know what someone is going to do, then they do something
entirely different. you’re shocked & have to re-evaluate your mental model of the person
o example: you’re a couple and someone cheats
o your trust in predicting the other person is dissolved person becomes a thread
o you will react how you would to a thread: with stress fight or flight response
2
, Media & Digitale Samenleving Les 3. Online hate 2022-2023
Social norms and Ostracism
̵ norms: what we think others should act like what is allowed & disallowed
̵ we create norms by learning how others act
o class: expected to sit and listen to teacher, if someone stands up during class violation of
teachers’ trust in predicting students behavior student becomes threat to teacher
̵ we create norms not only about behaviours but also about traits
o if everyone where I grew up was white, we expect humans to be white
o if someone violates this ‘norm’ the reflex will be to distrust
exposure is the stepping stone for tolerance and trust in each other
seeing different people is the only way to believe that we are safe around them
̵ ostracism = when someone breaks the social norm what happens:
o when the student gets up during class, they violated norm & trust punishment by
removing them from the group (as an effort to restore the trust in the group)
̵ we fear being ostracized from groups because we have evolved to survive in a group
o to survive we cooperate (hunting, share resources, protecting each other)
o those who did not have that fear are more prone to breaking social norms and being
ostracized chances of survival plummet (can’t make it on your own)
̵ rejection hurt shows in our brain
o our neural reaction responsible for processing physical pain
o is also responsible for processing being rejected (social pain)
we desperately need trust to function as a social group
we build expectations (norms) on how other will act based on our past experiences
sometimes we abstract those norms from things that we shouldn’t
Economy of cognitive processes (wat er in ons hoofd omgaat)
̵ the economy of cognitive processes: we are picky about what we spend time thinking about
o when we meet a new person, we don’t get to know every detail about them
o it would take too much time and energy and we usually don’t care
we will assume things, not because they are true, but because it would take too
much energy to think about who they really are
̵ stereotypes: judging groups of people based on qualities observed without much effort,
then focussing on negative aspects
o many stereotype stories about racist people:
they will have 1 friend of a different race and say ‘they are different, they are one of
the good ones’ because they got to know them and understand them as a person
but they are not willing to treat everyone equal
Negativity bias (negativiteit vooroordelen)
we blame the media for only showing negative news, but we do this do ourselves
̵ humans have tendency to focus on the negative evolutionary perspective:
o learning what berries to eat: we have to focus on what berries not to eat so we don’t die
o death = permanent, happiness = fleeting we have to be alive in order to feel positivity
̵ hence news, social media and gossip focused on negativity
o humans love gossip, it’s something that binds us as a group builds trust
o telling negativity about another person says ‘I would never do that’
o you’re ostracizing another person
o most friendships start by hating the same thing
3
