IM Cultural Institute

Author: network

  • Exploring Hate Speech Dynamics: The Emotional, Linguistic, and Thematic Impact on Social Media Users

    Exploring Hate Speech Dynamics: The Emotional, Linguistic, and Thematic Impact on Social Media Users

    In this study, online hate speech as a growing concern was examined, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when anti-Asian sentiment increased across social media platforms.

    While the prevalence of hateful content has been widely documented, the causal mechanisms underlying emotional and behavioral changes among users who post such content remain insufficiently explored.

    The study addresses this gap by investigating the causal relationship between engaging in hateful content and subsequent changes in linguistic and emotional expression on social media.

    Using a dataset of 6,002 Twitter/X users, the authors apply causal inference methods, including propensity score matching, alongside advanced topic modeling techniques. This approach allows for a comparison between users who post hateful content and a matched group of non-hateful users.

    Findings show that users who engage in hateful posting display significantly higher levels of anger, anxiety, and negative emotions, as well as increased use of third-person pronouns. Moral outrage and profanity peak during hateful posts and decline over time, though they remain higher than in non-hateful content.

    The analysis also reveals that hateful posts are more interconnected, address a wider range of topics, and are more similar to one another, indicating lower cohesion within individual posts but greater cohesion across posts overall.

    Learn more about this study here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2025.104079

    Reference

    Ghenai, A., Noorian, Z., Moradisani, H., Abadeh, P., Erentzen, C., & Zarrinkalam, F. (2025). Exploring hate speech dynamics: The emotional, linguistic, and thematic impact on social media users. Information Processing & Management, 62(3), 104079

  • Enhancing Media Literacy Through Two Ludic Tools

    Enhancing Media Literacy Through Two Ludic Tools

    A recent study examined the potential of game-based learning to address the challenges young people face in navigating misinformation and critically engaging with digital media. In an increasingly unfiltered social media environment, the authors emphasized media literacy as a key competence for evaluating information and making informed judgments.

    As methodology, existent research was used, combining a benchmarking analysis of 21 tabletop games with in-depth interviews conducted with 29 experts. The benchmarking data were analyzed through comparative content analysis to identify game mechanics that support the development of media literacy, while the interview data were examined using a Grounded Theory approach to extract insights into critical skills, effective pedagogical strategies, and youth preferences in gameplay.

    These analyses informed the design of two educational tabletop games aimed at fostering critical thinking, collaboration, and ethical decision-making.

    The first game, Social Media Puppeteers, places players in the roles of politicians, journalists, and scientists, encouraging strategic discussion about social media dynamics through simplified role-playing mechanics aligned with experiential learning approaches.

    The second game, Social Media Fake News, uses structured, card-based gameplay to help players identify and deconstruct misinformation, supporting interactive and hands-on learning.

    The study shows that both games promote cognitive, social, and emotional benefits, including empathy, teamwork, and face-to-face collaboration. Through immersive narratives and role-based decision-making, players develop critical media skills in engaging learning environments.

    Learn more about this study here: https://doi.org/10.15847/obsOBS19520252698

    Reference

    Contreras-Espinosa, R. S., & Eguia-Gómez, J. L. (2025). Enhancing Media Literacy through two ludic tools. Observatorio (OBS*), 19(5)

  • Teacher Education, Diversity, and the Prevention of Hate Speech: Ethical and Political Foundations for Inclusive Citizenship

    Teacher Education, Diversity, and the Prevention of Hate Speech: Ethical and Political Foundations for Inclusive Citizenship

    This study examines hate speech in educational contexts, focusing on initial teacher training, in the context of Chile.

    Considering how hate speech is conceptualized as a form of expression that promotes violence and exclusion – and the amplifying role of social media -, drawing on the theories of Levinas, Arendt, and Žižek, the study emphasizes the importance of citizenship education in fostering inclusive and democratic educational environments.

    Using a quantitative, descriptive, and correlational design, the research is based on a survey of history pedagogy students at Chilean universities.

    The analysis shows that 51% of participants believe that teacher training programs should explicitly address hate speech, and 70% expect institutional support from the Ministry of Education. Additionally, a moderate positive correlation is identified between social media use and the spread of hate speech.

    Although students acknowledge hate speech as a significant issue, the findings also reveal ongoing resistance to incorporating hate speech and diversity-related content into teacher education curricula.

    A need for public policies is emphasized, which will integrate diversity, human rights, and critical digital literacy into teacher training in order to prevent discrimination and promote ethical and inclusive educational practices.

    Learn more about this study here: https://doi.org/10.3390/soc15050139

    Reference

    Marolla-Gajardo, J., & Riquelme Plaza, I. (2025). Teacher Education, Diversity, and the Prevention of Hate Speech: Ethical and Political Foundations for Inclusive Citizenship. Societies, 15(5)

  • Loneliness and Radicalization

    Loneliness and Radicalization

    This article investigates how experiences of loneliness play a role in radicalization processes.

    The authors’ main objective is to develop an empirically grounded theory of loneliness in contemporary forms of radicalization.

    Taking Hannah Arendt’s political theory, which posits loneliness as a breeding ground for terror as a starting point, an analysis guided by a critical phenomenological approach is constructed, adopting the perspective of subjective experiences while exploring how these are embedded in specific social structures in contemporary societies.

    Empirical data is drawn from two sets of cases: lone-actor terrorists and female Western affiliates of ISIS.

    Conclusions point to the fact that while the fear of individual and collective extinction plays an important role for right-wing lone-actor terrorists, experiences of discrimination and marginalization are crucial in the case of Islamist radicalization in Western countries.

    Learn more about this study here: https://doi.org/10.1177/01914537251334550

    Reference

    Tirkkonen, S. K., & Tietjen, R. R. (2025). Loneliness and radicalization. Philosophy & Social Criticism, 0(0)

  • Improving Public Literacy in Hate Speech Cases on Social Media as an Effort to Mitigate Legal and Social Impacts

    Improving Public Literacy in Hate Speech Cases on Social Media as an Effort to Mitigate Legal and Social Impacts

    Following on the evidence that hate speech and the threats posed by it and its recurrence has not received enough attention, the authors have conducted a study of hate speech in social media, focusing in particular on insults that may constitute criminal speech and on the mindset of those who produce such content.

    Using a qualitative approach, the study analyzes a defamation case based on the final decision published on the Supreme Court website. Pragmatic analysis is applied to interpret the intentions underlying the offender’s speech.

    The findings identify several forms of insults, including accusations, curses, ridicule, and combinations of accusations and curses. These forms involve violations of pragmatic maxims, namely the maxims of quality, wisdom, and agreement.

    From a legal perspective, such speech can be prosecuted if it is done intentionally, contains accusations, is disseminated to the public, contains swear words, and defames the victim.

    Concluding results point to the need for greater awareness among social media users of the risks and consequences of insulting speech, emphasizing the importance of literacy around insult and defamation cases.

    Learn more about this study here: https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1504.10

    Reference

    Arianto, A. K., Santosa, R., & Yustanto, H. (2025). Improving Public Literacy in Hate Speech Cases on Social Media as an Effort to Mitigate Legal and Social Impacts. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 15(4), 1120–1129

  • Empowerment Is Key? How Perceived Political and Critical Digital Media Literacy Explain Direct and Indirect Bystander Intervention in Online Hate Speech

    Empowerment Is Key? How Perceived Political and Critical Digital Media Literacy Explain Direct and Indirect Bystander Intervention in Online Hate Speech

    With hate speech being so widespread in digital media and capable of harming people and fueling recurring hostile discourse, the study of the factors that shape bystander intervention in response to online hate speech is crucial.

    Specifically, there is still a need to understand how perceived political and digital media literacy are related to the frequency of various forms of online bystander intervention, such as counter-speech or reporting. This is what this study seeks to do.

    Based on a national online survey of German citizens (N = 2,691), the analysis focuses on individuals with prior experience in responding to online incivilities (n = 672). The study examines how perceived levels of political and digital media literacy are associated with private and public, direct and indirect forms of intervention, such as counter-speech or reporting harmful content.

    Results indicate that a sense of empowerment in dealing with digital media content is associated with more frequent direct and public interventions, including the use of counter-speech against online hate.

    Learn more about this study here: https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251325598

    Reference

    Obermaier, M., Schmid, U. K., & Rieger, D. (2025). Empowerment Is Key? How Perceived Political and Critical Digital Media Literacy Explain Direct and Indirect Bystander Intervention in Online Hate Speech. Social Media and Society, 11(1)

  • Large Language Models can Consistently Generate High-Quality Content for Election Disinformation Operations

    Large Language Models can Consistently Generate High-Quality Content for Election Disinformation Operations

    According to the authors of this study, advances in large language models have raised concerns about their potential use in generating compelling election disinformation at scale. In evidence of this, a two-part investigation into the capabilities of LLMs to automate stages of an election disinformation operation is presented.

    First, DisElect is introduced, a new evaluation dataset designed to measure LLM compliance with malicious prompts related to election disinformation in a localized UK context. The dataset includes 2,200 malicious and 50 benign prompts and was used to test 13 LLMs. Second, the “humanness” of LLM-generated disinformation was assessed, through a series of experiments (N = 2,340).

    The results show that most models comply with disinformation requests, while those that refuse malicious prompts also tend to refuse benign election-related prompts and are more likely to reject content from a right-wing perspective.

    On the second subject, findings indicate that most models released since 2022 produce disinformation content that is indistinguishable from human-written text more than half of the time, with some models exceeding human levels of perceived authenticity.

    Learn more about this study here: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0317421

    Reference

    Williams, A. R., Burke-Moore, L., Chan, R. S., Enock, F. E., Nanni, F., Sippy, T., Chung, Y. L., Gabasova, E., Hackenburg, K., & Bright, J. (2025). Large language models can consistently generate high-quality content for election disinformation operations. PloS one, 20(3), e0317421

  • EU Integration Through Stories

    EU Integration Through Stories

    Proposal: Capturing European Integration in Motion

    Implementation: 2025 to 2027

    Call: CERV-2024-CITIZENS-REM – European Remembrance – 2024

    Topic: CERV-2024-CITIZENS-REM-EUINTEGRATION

    Type of Action: CERV-LS – CERV Lump Sum Grants

    Proposed Budget: 393 615,00€

    Keywords: EU integration, Transition moments, European identity, integration, freedom of movement, intergenerational cooperation

    Objective: The project focuses on capturing the essence of European integration through the lens of elderly travelers who have experienced the freedom of movement across the continent. By highlighting the stories of these individuals, the project aims to bring generations together and promote the diversity of European citizens through shared memories. Through collaboration between young artists and elderly travelers, the project will create interview series, comic book, and exhibitions to showcase the transformative impact of European integration. By making European identity more accessible and inclusive, the project seeks to strengthen the narrative surrounding European integration and create positive peer-to-peer impact.

    Partners:

    • Bratislavsky Institut Pre Politicku Analyzu
    • IM Cultural Institute
    • Jugend-& Kulturprojekt EV
    • Univerzita Sv. Cyrila A Metoda V Trnave
    • Kauno Kino Centras Romuva
    • Funky Citizens
    • Kiinteistö Oy Kaapelitalo
  • AI to Counteract Hate Speech

    AI to Counteract Hate Speech

    Proposal: Using AI Tools to Counteract Hate Speech and Hate Crimes

    Implementation: 2025 to 2027

    Call: CERV-2024-CHAR-LITI – Promote civil society organisations’ awareness of, capacity building and implementation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

    Topic: CERV-2024-CHAR-LITI-SPEECH

    Type of Action: CERV-PJG – CERV Project Grants

    Proposed Budget: 610 244,50€

    Keywords: hate speech, disinformation, counteracting, protecting european values

    Objective: Given the growing scale of hate speech in public spaces, especially online, this project aims to comprehensively examine the phenomenon of hate speech in various socio-cultural contexts and develop a tool using generative artificial intelligence to identify and report hate speech in each language. The project focuses on the analysis of hate speech, development of innovative technological solutions, as well as social education in the field of recognizing and counteracting hate speech. The aim of the project is to strengthen the protection of EU values by providing an effective tool supporting the fight against hate speech, which will enable citizens to report cases of hate to the appropriate law enforcement authorities.

    Partners:

    • Instytut Dyskursu I Dialogu
    • IM Cultural Institute
    • Grupa Tipmedia Spolka Z Ograniczona Odpowiedzialnoscia
    • Fondatsiya Savremenna Plevenska Mediya
    • Fundación Centro De Estudos Eurorrexiónais Galicia Norte De Portugal
    • Asociacion Consortium Local-Global Coglobal
    • Action For The Civil Society
    • Interaktion – Verein Für Ein Interkulturelles Zusammenleben
  • Engagement with Radical Propaganda drives Cognitive Radicalization: An Analysis of a Right-Wing Online Ecosystem

    Engagement with Radical Propaganda drives Cognitive Radicalization: An Analysis of a Right-Wing Online Ecosystem

    Studies into the psycho-social processes involved in the phenomena of radicalization have revealed that social exclusion, cognitive inflexibility and the perception of threats to an ingroup are significant factors in the propensity to engagement with radical content online and the posterior commitment to related offline behaviours.

    In evidence of this, a recent study seeks to research user engagement and the proxy effect in the process of cognitive radicalization within a radical-right online ecosystem.

    The findings support the assumption that content containing outgroup prejudice contributes to cognitive radicalization, and further demonstrate that user engagement plays a central role, with an engagement-dependent framework in which individual posts carry a higher likelihood of radicalizing impact based on the level of interaction they receive.

    The author highlights the implications of these dynamics for understanding behavioural trajectories, from viewing and engaging with content to joining radical groups or engaging in offline violence.

    Learn more about this study here: https://doi.org/10.5038/1944-0472.17.1.2160

    Reference

    Calvert, J. B. (2024). Engagement with Radical Propaganda drives Cognitive Radicalization: An Analysis of a Right-Wing Online Ecosystem. Journal of Strategic Security, 17(1), 24–30