User Survey about Exposure of Hate Speech among Instagram Users in India
Ganesh Bhutkar, Vidhi Raghvani, Siddharth Juikar · International Journal of Computer Applications · 2021
This research paper presents the findings on exposure of Hate Speech among users of Instagram in India.The research objectives of this user survey include understanding the impact caused to Instagram users due to online hate speech and what actions are taken to respond to hate speech attacks.Social media like Instagram, is an excellent communication medium that lets users interact with friends and a lot of other users.However, this same potential of Instagram brings a major challenge, as it provides space for discourses that can be harmful and offensive to many individuals and communities.This challenge manifests in many ways like cyber bullying, offensive content and hate speech.This paper has provided a systematic measurement and analysis of hate speech faced by users on Instagram, which has recently implemented strict policies to combat hate speech, that include suspending and disabling accounts that tend to spread hate across the platform.This user survey is aimed at different relevant age groups of 13-17 years, 18-24 years and 25-34 years.The user survey involves Female, Male and Non-Binary users, with a total of 65 participants providing valid responses.It is found that online hate speech is highly targeted based on gender and religion of an individual.Direct messaging feature on Instagram is reported to be the most used way of attacking people with Hate Speech.Reportedly, Hate Speech has affected a majority of participants with psychological and social effects.This research will provide a starting point to designers, to create inclusive and safe social media applications, in future.