Project Synopsis
Title: Online hate speech: contents, networks and effects on hate crime
Throughout history, hate speech has affected societies leading up to genocides all over the world. However, an impelling question today is: has the diffusion of social media determined a shift, as “hate” can now also be quickly posted, stated in videos and memes, and shared within a few seconds in chats, groups, and channels? Does online hate speech on social media differ from hate speech in the offline spheres? Are the same social groups more likely to be targeted by hate speech online and offline? Are the same social groups more likely to use hate speech online and offline? Most importantly, does hate speech on social media lead to an increase in offline violence, such as hate crime?
The project aims to bring insights into those issues by investigating the relations between hate speech and hate crime within interdisciplinary literature and analyzing quantitative survey data. Furthermore, through this project data will be collected to specifically examine racist hate speech online and offline, and hate crime in the German context. The data will allow to compare racist hate victimization online and offline and to explore racist hate speech and hate crimes’ primary and secondary impact (Perry, 2001; Perry & Alvin, 2012) on psychosocial health at individual and social levels.
HOST INSTITUTION
partner organization(s)
early stage researcher
ESR10 Laura Dellagiacoma, PhD Candidate at Institute for Democracy and Civil Society
supervisor(s)
Prof. Tobias Rothmund, University of Jena, political psychology, disinformation interventions and social justice concerns
Outputs
Racist hate speech in everyday life: Experiences of Black people in Germany [DE: Rassistische Hate Speech im Alltag: Erfahrungen Schwarzer Menschen in Deutschland]. A summary of the main results of the NETHATE/IDZ data collection by Laura Dellagiacoma & Francesca Sika Dede Puhlmann (2025, July, 17th), targeting the German civil society. Link: https://www.idz-jena.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Projektberichte/IDZ_Nethate_B5_FINAL.pdf
Investigation of the relations between online hate speech and offline hate crime. Public Report of the NETHATE/IDZ data collection by Laura Dellagiacoma & Janine Dieckmann (2025, July, 17th). Link: https://www.idz-jena.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Projektberichte/NETHATE_ESR10finalReport_2025.pdf
Dellagiacoma, L., Geschke, D. & Rothmund, T. (2024). Ideological attitudes predicting online hate speech: the differential effects of right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation. Frontiers in Social Psychology, 2, 1389437 https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/social-psychology/articles/10.3389/frsps.2024.1389437/full
Dellagiacoma, L., Essien, I., Dieckmann, J., Rothmund, T. (2024, 23-25 October). Beyond the Individual: Primary and Secondary Impact of Racist Hate Speech Against Black People in Germany [Conference Presentation]. Behind the Data: Quantitative Approaches in Interdisciplinary Racism Research – WinRa Conference, Bayreuth, Germany. https://www.winra.org/aktuelles/jahreskonferenz-winra-annual-conference-winra
Dellagiacoma, L., Essien, I., Dieckmann, J., Rothmund, T. (2024, 9-11, October). Racist Hate Speech against Black people in Germany: Victimization and Impact on Well-Being and Mental Health [Conference Presentation]. Migration – Conflict – Solidarity: a contested field between politics and research – DeZim Conference 2024, Mannheim, Germany. https://www.dezim-institut.de/veranstaltungen/veranstaltungen-detail/dezim-tagung-2024/
Dellagiacoma, L., Fielitz, M., Jaspert, M., Klinker, F., Haldrich, S. (Eds). 2024. Wissen schafft Demokratie 14/2023: Netzkulturen und Plattformpolitiken. Amadeu Antonio Stiftung. ISSN (Online): 2512-9716 https://www.idz-jena.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDFs_WsD14/WEB-WsD-14-Netzkulturen-und-Plattformpolitiken.pdf
Dellagiacoma, L. (2023). Hass im Netz aus intersektionaler Perspektive. In: Institut für Demokratie und Zivilgesellschaft (Hg.). Wissen schafft Demokratie. Schwerpunkt Antifeminismus & Hasskriminalität, Band 13, Online-Ausgabe. Jena, 306–319. DOI: 10.19222/202313/25.
Dellagiacoma, L. (2023). Hate Speech on Social Media Platforms: Evidence From the Victims’ and the Perpetrators’ Perspectives. In: Bergsmo, M. & Manocha K. (Eds.), Religion, Hateful Expression and Violence (pp.703 – 732). TOAP Publication Series No. 41 (2023). https://www.toaep.org/ps-pdf/41-bergsmo-manocha/
Dellagiacoma, L. (2023, July 10th). “The Empirical Links between Hate Speech Online & Hate Crime: a Systematic Review” [Conference Presentation]. International Society for Political Psychology (ISPP) Annual Meeting, Montreal (Canada) – Session 45: Hate Crime, Human Rights and Victimization – Link: https://ispp.eventsair.com/ispp-2023-annual-meeting/schedule
Dellagiacoma, L. (2022, November, 10 – 12). The empirical links between online hate speech and hate crime: a systematic literature review [Conference Presentation]. Workshop on Aggression, Workshop on Aggression (uni-jena.de)
Dellagiacoma, L. (2022, October 18 – 19 ). Intersectional Analyses on the Exposure and Impact of Online Hate Speech [Conference Presentation]. International Workshop on Hate Speech – an Interdisciplinary Approach, Berlin, Germany, Hate Speech – International Workshops: Haifa and Berlin – Minerva Center for the Rule of Law under Extreme Conditions
Dellagiacoma, L., Geschke, D., Rothmund, T. (2022, June 09 – 10). Ideological attitudes as predictors of online hate speech [Conference Presentation]. Conference on Online Hostility and Bystanders, Aarhus, Denmark, Conference on Online Hostility and Bystanders.
Dellagiacoma, L., Geschke, D., Rothmund, T. (2022, June 09 – 10). Ideological attitudes as predictors of online hate speech [Conference Presentation]. Congress of the German Society for Psychology, Hildesheim Germany, Program – DGPs Congress 2022 (uni-hildesheim.de)
Dellagiacoma, L. (2022, January 17 – 19). Online platforms users and the perpetration of online hate speech: the opposite effects of right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation [Conference Presentation]. International Workshop on Hate Speech – an Interdisciplinary Approach, Haifa, Israel/online, https://youtu.be/pxyRit4SgFU
Hate Online through an Intersectional Perspective. An online presentation by Laura Dellagiacoma, L. (2022, February, 24) for the Women Council of Thuringia. Weblink: Hass im Netz – Ausmaß erkennen, Taten verfolgen, Prävention stärken | Landesfrauenrat Thüringen (landesfrauenrat-thueringen.de)
Online Hate Speech: from the effects on victims to the ideological motivations of perpetrators. Presentation by Laura Dellagiacoma (2022, June 21) within the Summer School of the Global-MINDS – European Master in the Psychology of Global Mobility, Inclusion, and Diversity in Society, University of Limerick.