# Spread of hate speech in online social media

**Authors:** Binny Mathew, Ritam Dutt, Pawan Goyal, Animesh Mukherjee  
**arXiv:** [1812.01693](https://arxiv.org/abs/1812.01693)  
**Date:** 2018-12-04  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/paper/1812.01693v1/

## Key points

- Existing online social media platform plagued with various issues, hate speech being prominent
- Hate speech on internet linked to real-world consequences (Rohingya genocide, Colombo violence, Pittsburgh synagogue massacre)
- Need for deeper understanding of how hateful content spreads and influences individuals online
- Comprehensive study conducted on Gab (gab.com) analyzing flow and dynamics of posts by hateful and non-hateful users
- Study used dataset of 341K users and 21M posts
- Findings confirm hateful content diffuses farther, wider, and faster than non-hateful content
- Hateful users have greater outreach compared to non-hateful users
- Examination of profiles and network connections reveals hateful users are more influential, popular, and cohesive within their networks
- Research provides insight into diffusion dynamics of hateful users in online social media platforms
- Valuable for developing effective strategies to combat harmful effects

## Summary

The existing online social media platform is plagued with various issues, with hate speech being one of the most prominent problems. The prevalence of hate speech on the internet has had devastating real-world consequences, such as the mass-genocide of Rohingya Muslims, communal violence in Colombo, and the recent massacre at the Pittsburgh synagogue. Therefore, it is crucial to gain a deeper understanding of how this hateful content spreads and influences individuals in an online setting. In order to address this issue, a comprehensive study was conducted to analyze the flow and dynamics of posts generated by both hateful and non-hateful users on Gab (gab.com). This study utilized a massive dataset consisting of 341K users and 21M posts. The findings from this research confirmed that hateful content tends to diffuse farther, wider, and faster than non-hateful content. Additionally, it was observed that hateful users have a greater outreach compared to non-hateful users. Further examination into the profiles and network connections of both hateful and non-hateful users revealed interesting insights. Hateful users were found to be more influential, popular, and cohesive within their networks; suggesting that they have a stronger impact on spreading hate speech compared to non-hateful users. Overall, this research sheds light on the diffusion dynamics of hateful users in online social media platforms; providing valuable insight into how we can work towards developing effective strategies for combating its harmful effects.