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1 – 10 of 62Minhazur Rahman Rezvi and Md Rakib Hossain
Online hate speech (OHS) is becoming a serious problem worldwide including in Bangladesh. This study aims to understand the nature of OHS against religious groups and explore its…
Abstract
Purpose
Online hate speech (OHS) is becoming a serious problem worldwide including in Bangladesh. This study aims to understand the nature of OHS against religious groups and explore its impact on their social life and mental health.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative approach was followed and 11 in-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted with the selected OHS victims. This study conducted a semi-structural interview using Google Form following the design questionnaire for selecting IDIs participants.
Findings
This study found that religious minorities experience online hatred through online media by the major religious group in Bangladesh. Natures of OHS are commenting on social media posts, sharing hateful memes and sending private messages using slang language targeting religious identity, religious food habits and ethnic identities. Victims were offended, abused and bullied by unknown persons, their university friends and colleagues. Victims of OHS did not take any action against it due to fear of insecurity. Victims of OHS felt low-minded, helpless and anxious after the experience of OHS; they felt more insecure and vulnerable socially and mentally.
Originality/value
The findings of this study suggest that policymakers identify the nature of OHS and take proper steps for reducing the frequency of OHS in Bangladesh. To combat the OHS, authorities have to make legal enforcement equal for everyone.
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Raiswa Saha, Sakshi Ahlawat, Umair Akram, Uttara Jangbahadur, Amol S. Dhaigude, Pooja Sharma and Sarika Kumar
The study aims to examine the conceptualization of online abuse (OA) and identifies theories, countries of research, top-cited articles, methodologies, antecedents, mediators…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to examine the conceptualization of online abuse (OA) and identifies theories, countries of research, top-cited articles, methodologies, antecedents, mediators, outcomes and moderators of OA and future research opportunities. Two research questions are addressed. How have the past studies on OA progressed regarding theories, context, characteristics and methodology? What future research opportunities can be done in this area?
Design/methodology/approach
This study systematically reviews, synthesizes and integrates OA literature using the well-recommended preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) rules. The literature on OA was synthesized based on the Theory–Context–Characteristics–Methodologies (TCCM) framework given by Paul and Rosado-Serrano.
Findings
Through an examination of TCCM used in OA research, the review presents an all-inclusive and up-to-date overview of the research in this arena and sets a future research agenda to spur scholarly research. This systematic literature review has analyzed top-quality sample papers, published in the past decade. As a result, it contributes to a better understanding of this relationship by analyzing the different types of use and the value added to the shopping experience.
Originality/value
This study provides groundwork for researchers and promotes a deeper understanding of OA.
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Labeeba Kothur and Vidushi Pandey
This paper aims to investigate the mechanisms through which social media news consumption across different platforms leads to opinion polarization in society. To this end, the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the mechanisms through which social media news consumption across different platforms leads to opinion polarization in society. To this end, the authors draw from cultivation theory to examine whether social media news consumption imparts a mainstreaming or resonance effect. Media consumption imparts a mainstreaming effect if frequent users, regardless of their social identity, develop homogenous attitudes about issues, whereas resonance is at play if there is a differing cultivation effect on various social groups depending on their relatability of life experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conduct the study in the developing context of India, using a population survey dataset from 2019. Regression-based mediation and moderation analyses were carried out to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The findings reveal that resonance is the most prominent mechanism through which social media news consumption cultivates opinion polarization, contrary to the mainstreaming effect imparted by television. Further, WhatsApp use was found to strengthen the polarizing effect of overall social media news consumption, while YouTube use weakened the cultivation of polarization.
Research limitations/implications
The paper unearths how social media news consumption influences the opinion polarization of various social groups differently. The authors also find the differential effect of specific platform use. These findings have the potential to inform policymakers and developers about how to mitigate the detrimental effects of platform-based political persuasion.
Originality/value
This study offers significant contributions. First, the authors explain social media-induced polarization using the novel theoretical lens of cultivation. Second, the authors find that social media and television news consumption differ in their polarizing effects. Third, the authors find that while WhatsApp use amplifies the polarizing effect of social media news consumption, YouTube use weakens it.
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This paper aims to provide an overview of South African perspectives on preventing, monitoring and combating hate victimisation, towards informing international understandings.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an overview of South African perspectives on preventing, monitoring and combating hate victimisation, towards informing international understandings.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a general review approach, this paper provides a historical examination of measures proposed by the South African Government and civil society since 1994, to prevent, monitor and combat hate crime, hate speech and intentional unfair discrimination.
Findings
Regardless of a constitutional commitment to social inclusion, diversity and minority rights, significant progress remains lacking after almost three decades of related advocacy, lobbying and limited government intervention. Findings of the South African Hate Crimes Working Group (HCWG) longitudinal Monitoring Project emphasise the need for decisive legal responses to hate victimisation.
Social implications
A Bill, recognising hate crime and hate speech as distinct criminal offences, has been in development for almost 15 years and will soon serve before Parliament. Enactment of this legislation will be ground-breaking in Africa.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the field of hate studies by providing an overview of the journey towards current conceptual understandings of hate in (South) Africa. It sets the stage for evaluating the potential of the redesigned HCWG monitoring tool, which holds promise for early identification and intervention in hate hotspots and targeted sectors. This instrument can establish trends not only in South Africa but also across the African continent.
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The paper aims to provide a critical review of how variations in the conceptualization and contextualization of hate crime across US cities might impact how their individual law…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to provide a critical review of how variations in the conceptualization and contextualization of hate crime across US cities might impact how their individual law enforcement agencies collect hate crime data. Media reports and political discourses present hate crime as a prevalent problem in the USA. However, this representation of hate crime in the public sphere is not reflected in the relatively low national numbers of hate crimes published annually by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing primarily on the national hate crime data for the period 2008–2018, this author conducted a secondary research study of the concept, context, extent and law enforcement collection of hate crime data in five cities in the USA.
Findings
This paper is a product of some of the findings of the study, which include the definition of hate crime at the federal, state and city levels and the contextualization of hate crimes at these levels. The findings show inconsistencies in how the five cities and associated law enforcement agencies conceptualize hate crime and in how they collect and report hate crime data at local and national levels.
Originality/value
Through its analysis of how five US cities and the associated law enforcement agencies interpret and respond to hate crime data collection, with recommendations of best practices for hate crime data collection by law enforcement agencies, the paper contributes to the academic and nonacademic debate on hate crime.
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Caterina Peroni and Pietro Demurtas
The purpose of this article is to provide a critical account of the hate crime (HC) paradigm by exploring its historical legal definition and the limitations in addressing the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to provide a critical account of the hate crime (HC) paradigm by exploring its historical legal definition and the limitations in addressing the multiple and structural discriminations faced by minority groups. Specifically, the article focuses on the case of Italy, where in recent years a fierce debate over a proposed law on HC against LGBT+ and disabled people ended in its rejection due to neoconservative and Catholic opposition.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on critical socio-criminological literature on HC, the paper analyses the Italian debates and socio-legal context over the past two decades regarding discrimination against LGBT+ groups and its (lack of) criminalization. It also provides a secondary analysis of recent data on violence and discrimination against LGBT+ people, collected by the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA).
Findings
The analysis of the debate and the data collected shows that the criminal definition of HC is insufficient to capture the wider range of social and cultural violence and discrimination against LGBT+ people. Indeed, data analysis shows the effect of the low level of recognition of rights on the propensity of people to denounce and of social practitioners to recognize, discrimination and violence against LGBT+ people. It is therefore argued that the discussion on HC should move beyond the criminalization of individual violence to be entrenched in a broader reflection over the lack of recognition of sexual citizenship rights which perpetuates the vulnerability of LGBT+ people.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the international socio-criminological debate on HC. It argues for a comprehensive framework that recognizes the structural nature of discrimination and violence against vulnerable groups by framing discrimination and violence against LGBT+ people as a citizenship right rather than a criminal justice issue.
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Mehmet Emin Bakir, Tracie Farrell and Kalina Bontcheva
The authors investigate how COVID-19 has influenced the amount, type or topics of abuse that UK politicians receive when engaging with the public.
Abstract
Purpose
The authors investigate how COVID-19 has influenced the amount, type or topics of abuse that UK politicians receive when engaging with the public.
Design/methodology/approach
This work covers the first year of COVID-19 in the UK, from March 2020 to March 2021 and analyses Twitter abuse in replies to UK MPs. The authors collected and analysed 17.9 million reply tweets to the MPs. The authors present overall abuse levels during different key moments of the pandemic, analysing reactions to MPs by gender and the relationship between online abuse and topics such as Brexit, the government’s COVID-19 response and policies, and social issues.
Findings
The authors have found that abuse levels towards UK MPs were at an all-time high in December 2020. Women (particularly those from non-White backgrounds) receive unusual amounts of abuse, targeting their credibility and capacity to do their jobs. Similar to other large events like general elections and Brexit, COVID-19 has elevated abuse levels, at least temporarily.
Originality/value
Previous studies analysed abuse levels towards MPs in the run-up to the 2017 and 2019 UK General Elections and during the first four months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. The authors compare previous findings with those of the first year of COVID-19, as the pandemic persisted, and Brexit was forthcoming. This research not only contributes to the longitudinal comparison of abuse trends against UK politicians but also presents new findings, corroborates, further clarifies and raises questions about the previous findings.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-07-2022-0392
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Kolawole Yusuff, Andrea Whittle and Frank Mueller
Existing literature has begun to identify the agonistic and contested aspects of the ongoing development of accountability systems. These “contests” are particularly important…
Abstract
Purpose
Existing literature has begun to identify the agonistic and contested aspects of the ongoing development of accountability systems. These “contests” are particularly important during periods of change when an accountability “deficit” has been identified, that is, when existing accountability systems are deemed inadequate and requiring revision. The purpose of this paper is to explore one such set of contests in the case of large technology and social media firms: the so-called “big tech”. The authors focus specifically on “big tech” because of increasing societal concerns about the harms associated with their products, services and business practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analysed four US Congressional hearings, in which the CEO of Facebook was held to account for the company's alleged breaches and harms. The authors conducted a discourse analysis of the dialogue between the account giver (Mark Zuckerberg) and account holders (Members of Congress) in the oral testimony at the four hearings.
Findings
Two areas of contestation in the dialogue between the account giver and account holders are identified. “Epistemic contests” involved contestation about the “facts” concerning the harms the company had allegedly caused. “Responsibility contests” involved contestation about who (or what) should be held responsible for these harms and according to what standards or criteria.
Originality/value
The study advances critical dialogical accountability literature by identifying two areas of contestation during periods of change in accountability systems. In so doing, they advanced the theory by conceptualising the process of change as underpinned by discursive contests in which multiple actors construct and contest the “problem” with existing accountability systems. The outcomes of these contests are significant, the authors suggest, because they inform the development of reforms to the accountability system governing big tech firms and other industries undergoing similar periods of contestation and change.
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Gaurav Sarin, Pradeep Kumar and M. Mukund
Text classification is a widely accepted and adopted technique in organizations to mine and analyze unstructured and semi-structured data. With advancement of technological…
Abstract
Purpose
Text classification is a widely accepted and adopted technique in organizations to mine and analyze unstructured and semi-structured data. With advancement of technological computing, deep learning has become more popular among academicians and professionals to perform mining and analytical operations. In this work, the authors study the research carried out in field of text classification using deep learning techniques to identify gaps and opportunities for doing research.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopted bibliometric-based approach in conjunction with visualization techniques to uncover new insights and findings. The authors collected data of two decades from Scopus global database to perform this study. The authors discuss business applications of deep learning techniques for text classification.
Findings
The study provides overview of various publication sources in field of text classification and deep learning together. The study also presents list of prominent authors and their countries working in this field. The authors also presented list of most cited articles based on citations and country of research. Various visualization techniques such as word cloud, network diagram and thematic map were used to identify collaboration network.
Originality/value
The study performed in this paper helped to understand research gaps that is original contribution to body of literature. To best of the authors' knowledge, in-depth study in the field of text classification and deep learning has not been performed in detail. The study provides high value to scholars and professionals by providing them opportunities of research in this area.
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Anuradha Yadav, Rajesh Kumar Singh, Ruchi Mishra and Surajit Bag
With gaining popularity, online communities are increasing. It is leading to the data and information overflow. So, there are some challenges like cyber frauds, cyberbullying…
Abstract
Purpose
With gaining popularity, online communities are increasing. It is leading to the data and information overflow. So, there are some challenges like cyber frauds, cyberbullying, etc. while engaging with online communities. Not only this, anonymity of the participants, stress and racism are also big challenges in online communities' interaction. Online harassers' attack tactics have changed over time. In addition, there are challenges like quality of discussion, inequality in participation of the users, etc. may scale online communities towards incitement and activism. Therefore, this study will try to analyse these challenges for overall benefit of the society.
Design/methodology/approach
The underlying fuzzy set theory is employed to handle the fuzziness of users' perceptions since the attributes are expressed in linguistic preferences. Through exhaustive literature review, the authors have identified 15 challenges. These challenges are further categorised as cause and effect by using DEMATEL (Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) approach.
Findings
Lack of strategic planning and uninspired discussions between users has emerged as a major challenge in cause category. This study further demonstrates how individual challenge can be managed and developed to navigate the online communities to maintain a healthy environment in society.
Research limitations/implications
Results are based on limited dataset. Therefore, findings cannot be generalised for all online communities.
Originality/value
The research findings offer a suitable direction to policymakers to formulate and design policies, laws and regulations to increase user engagement in the online community. The study is beneficial to firms and researchers in understanding the factors influencing effective management of online communities.
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