Online hate speech is up 20% since start of the COVID pandemic, research finds

Online hate speech has increased by 20% in the UK since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new research.

Anti-bullying charity Ditch The Label reviewed 263 million online conversations in the UK and US on social media sites, blogs and forums between 2019 and mid-2021.

It found the largest increase in abuse was targeted at the Asian population, with an increase of 1662% in anti-Asian hate speech last year, compared to 2019.

Increases in online abuse were also linked to real-world events, such as Black Lives Matter protests, the World Health Organisation declaring a pandemic in March 2020 and the murder of Sarah Everard by an off-duty Met police officer.

Dr Liam Hackett, CEO of Ditch the Label said: “It is clear that online hate speech has reached an all-time high and, to some communities, is at an unbearable extreme.

“By far, the most alarming data surrounds abuse directed towards marginalised communities, with a deep intensity surrounding racism and Asian hate.”

Dr Hackett told Sky News the pandemic has worsened the problem.

COVID-19: Austria imposes lockdown on unvaccinated citizens – as Europe becomes epicentre of pandemic

COVID-19: Vaccine certificates now needed to visit theatres, cinemas and concert halls in Wales

COVID-19: Israel to begin vaccinating 1.2 million children aged 5 to 11 against coronavirus

“We see the pandemic as a perfect storm where we were all suddenly locked in the home with high levels of disposable time, but actually the nation’s mental health generally declined,” he said.

“When you put those two things together it’s not surprising that hate speech has increased.”

Key findings in the report:

The report’s findings echo the abuse received by British Chinese content creator Michelle Elman, who lives in London.

She was forced to stop working on one social media platform due to the hate messages she received – and told Sky News that while anti-Asian abuse online was nothing new, there was an increase during the pandemic:

“There was so much fear and anger around the pandemic. It was definitely under the theme: you caused the pandemic, you are the reason I can’t see my family, jokes about eating bats, jokes about eating dogs.

“Anytime I’ve spoken about anti-Asian discrimination, even as early as 2014/2015, it was always met with silence – so I guess when it started happening last year, especially in the first lockdown, I was just kind of used to it sadly,” she added.

Follow the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

The findings come as the government scrutinises the draft Online Safety Bill – aimed at tackling abuse on social media – with a committee due to publish its report on the bill by 10 December.

A Department For Culture, Media & Sport spokesperson said: “Online hate has no place in our society and we’re introducing tough new laws to force companies to do more and clamp down on it.

“Under our pioneering Online Safety Bill social media firms will face huge fines if they fail to uphold their duty of care to protect UK users from this vile abuse.

“But there is nothing stopping social media companies going faster now and we urge them to step up and do all they can.”

Read Entire Article