Combatting the Repression of Online Activism in Authoritarian Settings

• In Event: Digital Platforms, Freedom of Speech, and Power

Abstract

In authoritarian settings, political activists are often silenced on social media through hate speech campaigns, sometimes orchestrated by governments. While there is rising evidence of the detrimental impact of hate speech on targeted communities, we are yet to find policies that are effective at curbing it on social media. In light of the recent changes in platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) that have limited online content moderation, counterspeech that confronts hate speech has a strong policy appeal. Policies that counter hate speech, often carried out by nongovernmental organizations, are visible and may shape the incentives of harassers, while giving victims a sense of protection. We identify a set of such harassers from an authoritarian regime on X, as well as their victims, and evaluate an experiment that randomly posts public and private messages condemning harassers and supporting activists they victimized. We assess the effectiveness of counterspeech policies in reducing the activity of harassers and increasing the activity of victims, with particular attention given to network spillovers.

Authors

• Romain Reda Ferrali, Aix-Marseille School of Economics

• Horacio Larreguy, ITAM