| Description |
Cyberhate is a complex and yet not clearly defined phenomenon that comprises of online hate speech and various types of online content that expresses antagonistic attitudes towards targeted groups of people and that advocates and promotes hatred and discrimination. In prior research, cyberhate experiences were often conceptualised within a broader framework of cyberviolence and cyberharassment (Lwin et al. 2012; Peterson & Densley 2017). It was also examined as one of the possible online risks that young people and children can encounter on the internet, among which belong cyberbullying, sexting (especially unwanted sexting), exposure to sexually explicit materials, or exposure to various types of harmful online content (such as materials that promote eating disorders or suicide). Previous research has shown that young people and children do experience these risks, especially those who are active and frequent users of social media and the internet in general (Costello et al., 2016; Hawdon et al., 2017; Holt et al., 2015; Oksanen et al., 2016; Staksrud et al., 2012). It has also been shown that prior victimization, as well as experienced exposure to harmful online content, are connected to the prospect of cybervictimization and online harassment (Näsi et al., 2014; Räsänen et al., 2016; Reyns et al., 2013). Thus, our first goal is to investigate the associations between the different types of online risks connected to cyberhate experiences. Our contribution will consider the different types of actors in a cyberhate event — members of an exposed audience, victims of aggression, and perpetrators — and it will explore their experiences with relation to the other previously mentioned risks. Specifically, we will investigate the relationships between youths’ various cyberhate experiences (as different kinds of actors) and the relationships with other online risks. In addition to cyberhate victimization, cyberhate exposure is considered harmful and associated with negative effects on youth and their subjective well-being (Keipi et al., 2018). It has also been shown that cyberhate experiences are associated with, for instance, lower quality offline relationships or the usage of specific social media (Costello et al., 2016; Oksanen et al., 2014). Therefore, our second goal is to investigate the links between cyberhate experiences and individual factors, also in comparison with their links to other online risks. Our analysis will utilize the data from the EU Kids Online IV project in which the data collection is still in progress. It will include data from European countries that have employed a cyberhate module in their surveys on a representative national sample of youth aged 9-17, including the Czech Republic, Italy, Norway, and Slovakia.
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