Exposure to Hate Speech in the Digital Age. Effects on Stereotypes About Roma People

Dana Raluca BUTUROIU, Nicoleta CORBU


Abstract:

Hateful content directed against ethnic minority groups has gained momentum due to the open nature of social media platforms and the legal protection towards freedom of speech. Being the largest in the European Union, the Roma ethnic minority group faces generalized discrimination with regards to many vital areas such as access to employment, healthcare services, housing (including public housing), and education. In Romania, which is home for large numbers of Roma people (varying from 1,5 to 3 million people), such discrimination is widely spread in common online settings. Based on a 4x2 between-subjects experiment (N=351), this study sheds light on the effects of exposure to hate speech directed against the Roma ethnic minority in the digital age, with particular reference to some dominant stereotypes about Roma people. Main results show that exposure to hateful content (i.e., neither mild/ derogatory, not extreme/ full hate) directed against Roma people might function in the sense of diminishing negative stereotypes rather than enhancing them. Such findings could be useful in future studies investigating hate speech effects and in the development of strategies and policies addressing discrimination against Roma ethnic minority.

Keywords: Online hate speech; Roma minority; Stereotypes about Roma; Discrimination

DOI: 10.24193/jmr.37.1

Download