Scientists recorded up to a 22% increase in racist, misogynist and homophobic tweets when temperatures rose above 42C and increases of up to 12% when the mercury dropped below -3C, according to a study in The Lancet Planetary Health. Annika Stechemesser, its lead author and a scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), said: “We found that both the absolute number and the percentage of hate tweets increase outside a climate comfort zone. “People tend to show more aggressive online behavior when it’s either too cold or too hot outside.” The research used machine learning algorithms to identify about 75 million hate tweets in English – about 2% of the sample – in 773 US cities between 2014 and 2020. These volumes of hate speech were then recorded and statistically evaluated against variations in local temperatures by the PIK team. They found that the least number of abusive messages appeared when temperatures were between 15-18C, but when thermometers dropped below 12C or rose above 21C, hateful tweets began to increase – more dramatically in extreme climates. chart Incendiary tweets flared up in all climate zones, regardless of factors such as income and political or religious views, the paper reported. Diego Naranjo, head of policy at the European Digital Rights Network, said the impact of the climate crisis on hate speech could be reduced by banning current attention-maximizing corporate models, some of which have been accused of promoting hateful content . “Big Tech’s business model drives platforms to promote polarizing content, and as very large online platforms incentivize the creation of viral content by spreading polarizing posts, we risk more hate speech spreading faster and putting our mental health at risk,” he said. . . In June, Facebook was criticized for its failures to detect hate speech in some other languages when a researcher tested its systems by submitting fake hate-filled ads that Facebook approved for publication even though they called for the killing of people belonging to different ethnic groups. Research shows that four out of 10 Americans have experienced some form of online harassment, which can cause ailments ranging from anxiety and depression to self-harm. “Being the target of online hate speech is a serious threat to people’s mental health,” Stechemesser said. “The psychological literature tells us that online hate can worsen mental health conditions especially for young people and marginalized groups.” Nearly three-quarters of women worldwide said they had been exposed to online violence in a UN study, while one in four black Americans have reported experiencing racial harassment online. Twitter was chosen for the PIK survey because it is used by one in five Americans and many of its tweets are geo-located. Maximum temperatures are also usually recorded between midday and late afternoon, a popular time for tweeting. The study used a UN definition of hate speech as “any kind of communication by speech, writing or conduct, which attacks or uses derogatory or discriminatory language in relation to a person or group based on their religion, nationality, nationality , race, color, origin, sex or other factor of identity’. The Guardian has approached both Twitter and Meta for comment.
