LONDON: Research by anti-bullying charity Ditch The Label found that online hate speech in both the UK and the US rose by 20 percent since the start of the pandemic and increased around major events.
Ditch The Label, together with digital consumer intelligence company Brandwatch, reviewed 263 million online conversations on social media platforms, blogs and forums between 2019 and mid-2021.
The study found 50.1 million discussions about, or examples of, racist hate speech during that period, most of which was targeted at the respective Asian populations, with an increase of 1,662 percent in anti-Asian hate speech last year, compared to 2019.
The study also found that these conversations increased dramatically around major news events, such as the World Health Organization declaring the coronavirus disease outbreak a pandemic in March 2020, the Black Lives Matter protests in June 2020 in the US, and the murder of Sarah Everard in the UK in March 2021.
The CEO of Ditch the Label, Dr. Liam Hackett, 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.”
He added that boredom and a feeling that people do not “have control of their lives” during the pandemic led to a “perfect storm” for online abuse.
Facebook gave estimates for the prevalence of bullying and harassment on its platform last week, saying such content was seen between 14 and 15 times per every 10,000 views on the site in the third quarter.
A similar number was observed on Instagram, where bullying and harassment content was seen between 5 and 6 times per 10,000 views.
The UK government has been taking steps to mitigate the prevalence of online hate.
In October, the government-approved regulator for broadcasting and telecommunications, Ofcom, announced that it will soon be given the power to impose fines of up to £18 million ($24.197 million), or 10 percent of annual turnover, on big tech companies that fail to protect their users from online harm.
