Deplatforming Hate: Countering Hate Speech on Social Media in the Netherlands and Beyond

Hate speech has become widespread on social media but its moderation by platforms and regulation by governments lags behind. Policymakers and content moderators are often unaware of the terms and expressions employed for spewing hate online and how these might vary by language and cultural context. Using a computational approach and a comparative research design, this project aims to examine hate speech on social media from five countries — the Netherlands, South Africa, India, UK, and USA. Its purpose is to improve our knowledge of the linguistic registers of hate speech across multiple languages as well as the communities and identities that are its frequent targets — in order to help address this major societal challenge. Our larger goal is to draw upon cutting-edge scientific research to raise public awareness and inform both platform-level and policy-level interventions that can mitigate the incidence of online hate speech in these countries. With this objective, we will work closely with a civil society partner with experience in public and policy advocacy on such issues.