In this study, the impact of online hate speech on adolescents was examined, and the effectiveness of HateLess – Together Against Hatred, a school-based intervention designed to reduce hate speech engagement and promote counter-speech.
Using a quasi-experimental design, the research involved 820 adolescents aged 12 to 16 from 11 German schools, divided into an intervention group that participated in a one-week anti-hate speech program and a control group. Multilevel mediation analyses were used to assess the program’s effects.
It was shown that participation in the program significantly reduced online hate speech perpetration and victimization, while increasing countering behaviors. These effects were partly mediated by increases in empathy, which were associated with lower perpetration and higher counter-speech, and by enhanced self-efficacy, which was linked to reduced victimization and greater countering of hate speech.
Overall, HateLess appears to be a promising approach for reducing online hate speech and fostering more respectful online interactions among adolescents.
Learn more about this study here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2024.108250
Reference
Wachs, S., Wright, M. F., & Gámez-Guadix, M. (2024). From hate speech to HateLess. The effectiveness of a prevention program on adolescents’ online hate speech involvement. Computers in Human Behavior, 157