Bystanders’ Perceptions on Online Hate Speech: Potential effects of Perpetrators’ Justifications and the Bystander’s Role

On social media, users are exposed to online hate speech (OHS), which is speech that attacks a person or a group based on a group characteristic, e.g., gender identity. Not every bystander evaluates OHS as offensive and/or intervenes, which can lead to the continuation of OHS and damaging consequences for victims. The goal of the present study was to understand attitudinal and behavioral components of bystanders’ perceptions on OHS by investigating content-related, contextual, and personal characteristics. More precisely, the effects of the presence or absence of online moral disengagement strategies or moral excuses in OHS messages (e.g., “I’m posting this because it doesn't hurt if I share my opinion online”) and the bystander’s role (pure bystander or vicarious victim) on bystanders’ attitudes and behaviors were tested. To this aim, a repeated measures experiment (5x2x2 mixed design) was conducted among 633 adults aged 18-25. The results indicated no effects of the presence or absence of moral excuses. Bystanders who were vicarious victims (they were exposed to OHS targeting an individual with whom they share the targeted group characteristic), perceived OSH as more offensive and had higher intentions to intervene, compared to ‘pure’ bystanders (they did not share the targeted group characteristic).