Hate speech and social acceptance of migrants in Europe: Analysis of tweets with geolocation

Arcila-Calderón, Carlos and Sánchez-Holgado, Patricia and Quintana-Moreno, Cristina and Amores, Javier J. Hate speech and social acceptance of migrants in Europe: Analysis of tweets with geolocation. Comunicar, 2022, vol. 30, n. 71, pp. 21-35. [Journal article (Paginated)]

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English abstract

Hate speech against vulnerable groups is acknowledged as a serious problem for integration and respect for the social diversity existing within the territory of the European Union. The growth of this type of discourse has been supported by the expansion of social media, which have been proven to act as a mechanism for the propagation of crimes against targets such as migrants and refugees, one of the main affected groups. That is why we have conducted the first European study of the social acceptance of migrants and refugees by studying the presence of hate speech. The research is based on the perspective of the theories of intergroup contact and mediated intergroup contact. The methodology includes large-scale longitudinal analysis (2015-2020) of online hate speech on Twitter (N=847,978) and its contrast with existing official indicators. The results suggest that personal intergroup contact is positively correlated with the support of the local population towards migrants and refugees but mediated intergroup contact is not correlated with hate speech on Twitter. We found evidence that those regions where the support for foreigners was higher, there was a lower level of hate speech on Twitter. This is an advance in the study of hate speech by territories and can help in the formulation of action strategies.

Spanish abstract

El discurso de odio contra públicos vulnerables es reconocido como un grave problema para la integración y el respeto a la diversidad social dentro de la Unión Europea. El aumento de este tipo de discurso se ha visto reforzado con la expansión de las redes sociales, donde se ha demostrado que actúan como mecanismo de propagación de delitos contra colectivos como los migrantes y refugiados, uno de los principales afectados. Por ello se aborda el desarrollo del primer estudio europeo de la aceptación social de migrantes y refugiados mediante el estudio de la presencia de discurso de odio. La investigación se basa en la perspectiva de la teoría del contacto intergrupal y el contacto intergrupal mediado. La metodología incluye el análisis longitudinal (2015-2020) a gran escala del discurso de odio en línea en Twitter (N=847.978) y el contraste con indicadores oficiales existentes. Los resultados apuntan a que el contacto intergrupal personal está correlacionado positivamente con el apoyo de la población hacia migrantes y refugiados, pero el contacto intergrupal mediado no está correlacionado con la disminución del discurso de odio. Encontramos evidencia que muestra que en aquellas regiones en las que el apoyo al colectivo era mayor existía un menor nivel de discurso de odio en Twitter. Esto supone un avance en el estudio del discurso de odio por territorios y puede ayudar en el planteamiento de estrategias de actuación.

Item type: Journal article (Paginated)
Keywords: Inmigration; refugees; attitude; hate speech; big data; Twitter; Inmigración; refugiados; actitud; discurso del odio; big data; Twitter
Subjects: B. Information use and sociology of information > BJ. Communication
G. Industry, profession and education.
G. Industry, profession and education. > GH. Education.
Depositing user: Alex Ruiz
Date deposited: 21 Mar 2022 07:10
Last modified: 21 Mar 2022 07:10
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/42970

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