"Weak Sensitivity to Hate Speech Related to Race and Sexual Orientation Online"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] Awareness of hate speech based on race, sexual orientation, and age group is found to be low online.

Recently, the National Human Rights Commission, Kakao, and the Korean Association for Media Law jointly announced interim results of a citizen perception study on online hate speech.

Professor Lee Seung-seon of Chungnam National University and Dr. Choi Jin-ho of Hanyang University surveyed over 1,000 citizens regarding their judgment, exposure experience, and production experience of hate speech. The results showed that awareness levels of online hate speech disparaging political orientation, regional origin, gender, and disabilities were relatively high.

On the other hand, awareness of hate speech targeting race, sexual orientation, and specific age groups?such as "As expected, Black people are good at sports," "We must protect our children from homosexuality," and "It's scary when young people gather in school uniforms these days"?was relatively low. Recognition of hate speech targeting race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, and specific age groups was comparatively low.

Researcher Choi Jin-ho from Hanyang University's Computational Social Science Research Center, who conducted the survey, pointed out, "Online hate speech can widely appear as discriminatory expressions that spread stereotypes based on prejudice," adding, "Due to anonymity, openness, transmissibility, and interactivity, the material and psychological damage is much more severe."

Sensitivity to hate speech also varied according to gender, age group, and education level.

Comparing by gender, men were found to produce hate speech about 3.7 times more than women, showing a significant difference. The most common reason for producing hate speech was "because I actually think that way," accounting for 27.5% of responses, followed by "because the other party first posted content criticizing the group I belong to" at 21.1%. Survey participants recognized people with disabilities, women, sexual minorities, and the elderly as vulnerable victims of hate speech.

The Human Rights Commission explained the significance of this survey, stating, "Although various stakeholders are striving to find solutions to eradicate online hate speech, social and academic discussions are still insufficient regarding what constitutes online hate speech, how the general public perceives hate speech, and how these perceptions differ from those of experts."