What question did this study set out to answer?

To investigate how targeted scholars perceive digital hate perpetrators and bystanders within the context of power imbalances.

August 15, 2026Information Communication & SocietyOpen Access

The strategic provocation of digital hate: empowered targets’ perceptions of perpetrators and bystanders

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Authors

MKMaryam KhaleghipourUniversity of Vienna KKKevin KobanUniversity of Vienna JMJörg MatthesUniversity of Vienna

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Implication

Qualitative interview study uncovers how scholars experience digital hate triggered by high-status actors, highlighting the necessity of coordinated bystander interventions.

Key Points

To investigate how targeted scholars perceive digital hate perpetrators and bystanders within the context of power imbalances.
Conducted semi-structured interviews with N=24 university professors across Austria, France, Hungary, and Sweden.
Scholars perceived digital hate as strategic provocation orchestrated by high-status actors, including political parties and movements, who indirectly triggered broader public aggression.
Bystander interventions were largely viewed as insufficient because of fear, lack of expertise, and power asymmetries.
Participants reported that individual support provided emotional relief, but effective mitigation required coordinated collective responses or intervention by empowered peers.

Cite This Study

Khaleghipour et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a8037d975c2e31742c86e37 https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2026.2674873

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Implication

Qualitative interview study uncovers how scholars experience digital hate triggered by high-status actors, highlighting the necessity of coordinated bystander interventions.

The strategic provocation of digital hate: empowered targets’ perceptions of perpetrators and bystanders

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

The strategic provocation of digital hate: empowered targets’ perceptions of perpetrators and bystanders

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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