Reporting Hate Comments: Investigating the Effects of Deviance Characteristics, Neutralization Strategies, and Users’ Moral Orientation

Norm violations in comments on social networking sites have raised concerns about the climate of political discourse. In this article, we analyze how comment characteristics and neutralization techniques in potential hate speech comments influence users’ ascription of deviance by reporting negative...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communication research 2020-08, Vol.47 (6), p.921-944
Main Authors: Wilhelm, Claudia, Joeckel, Sven, Ziegler, Isabell
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Hate speech
Norms
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Norm violations in comments on social networking sites have raised concerns about the climate of political discourse. In this article, we analyze how comment characteristics and neutralization techniques in potential hate speech comments influence users’ ascription of deviance by reporting negative comments about refugees. We focus on the type of norm violation, subtlety, type of victim, and justifications as comment characteristics. Moreover, we examine the influence of descriptive and injunctive norms on reporting behavior of potential hate comments. Here, we focus on individual’s moral orientation and the perceived level of peer deviance. Results of an online survey (n = 457) that included a choice-based conjoint design suggest that incitements for violence and direct offenses are more likely to be reported than other types of norm violation and indirect offenses. Moral foundations, indicative of liberal political orientations, fostered reporting behavior, but conservative orientations reduced reporting behavior.
ISSN:0093-6502
1552-3810
DOI:10.1177/0093650219855330