Girls perceive online hate speech more strongly than boys
Over half of girls regularly encounter hate speech online
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
While a third of boys consider hateful comments on the internet interesting or entertaining, only 10% of girls find such comments interesting and 14% entertaining.
These are the findings of the latest JAMESfocus reportExternal link by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and Swisscom, which surveyed 1,000 young people aged 12-19 throughout Switzerland.
According to the report, three-quarters of the girls said they were horrified or saddened by hate speech, whereas only 40% of boys were. What’s more, almost half of the male participants expressed understanding for some hate comments.
“On the one hand, it could be that boys are oriented towards the role of the strong, dominant man who has to be able to take a punch sometimes and who can’t be harmed by such comments but who is even amused by them,” said ZHAW media psychologist Céline Külling in a statement on Monday.
More
More
Swiss App aims to counter hate speech online
This content was published on
Women’s organisation Alliance F has launched a first Swiss App to track and counter hate speech on the Internet.
“On the other hand, studies show that men are more likely to be among the perpetrators of hate speech, which could also increase understanding of such comments.”
Discrimination based on appearance
The study found that over half (53%) of girls regularly encounter hate speech, compared with 41% of boys, with 16- to 19-year-olds being particularly affected.
“However, it is difficult to assess whether girls actually face such messages more often or whether there are different perceptions of what is perceived as hate speech in the first place,” Külling said.
Young people are most often insulted on the internet because of their appearance, which was reported mainly by girls (81%). However, the respondents also observed discrimination based on sexual orientation, place of origin and skin colour. Almost all of the respondents (94%) said they found anonymous hate comments cowardly.
If young people encounter hate speech that does not apply to them personally, they should offer support to those affected, the authors recommended. In addition, objecting to and countering such comments is important to set an example, they added.
Popular Stories
More
Aging society
No house generation: the impossibility of buying property in Switzerland
This content was published on
An unstable glacier above the Swiss village of Blatten has stopped breaking up, but there is still no question of lifting a landslide alert.
Swiss education chief wants fewer mobile phones in schools
This content was published on
The new head of the Swiss cantonal education authority would like to ban mobile phones in schools, apart from use in lessons.
Swiss regulator criticises banks for being lax with mortgages
This content was published on
Switzerland's financial watchdog has condemned a tendency for banks to apply less stringent internal guidelines for granting mortgage loans.
Uber drivers subject to the law on services in Geneva
This content was published on
The Federal Court has ruled against a Geneva-based company, a partner of Uber, which challenged its liability under the law on the hiring of services.
Swiss nuclear power plants are not at risk from flooding
This content was published on
According to an inspection by the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate, the safety-relevant buildings of the Swiss nuclear power plants are not at risk.
Coronavirus: ‘Fears, rumours and stigma’ cause bullying in Switzerland
This content was published on
A Taiwanese student at the University of Lucerne recounts how she was mocked for being Asian amid the coronavirus outbreak.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.