The online hostility hypothesis: representations of Muslims in online media

Using a large data set of online media content in eight European countries, this paper broadens the empirical investigation of the online hostility hypothesis, which posits that interactions on social sites such as blogs and forums contain more hostile expressions toward minority groups than social interactions offline or in editorial news media. Overall, our results are consistent with the online hostility hypothesis when comparing news media content with social sites, but we find that negatively charged representations are common in both media types. It is instead the amount of attention to Muslims and Islam on social sites that most clearly differs and is the main driver of online hostility in the online media environment more broadly conceived.

Automated summary

This paper uses a large data set from eight European countries to investigate the online hostility hypothesis, finding that interactions on social sites contain more hostile expressions towards minority groups compared to offline social interactions or editorial news media. However, negatively charged representations are common in both media types. The amount of attention to Muslims and Islam on social sites is the main driver of online hostility in the broader online media environment.