Report shines light on what drives people to post hateful content

An Australian Institute of Criminology report examined the characteristics of people who post online hate.

Of 9,951 surveyed, nearly 170 had subjected others to online hate.

Those people were more likely to have had negative experiences online and behave antisocially.

Researchers have shed light on the characteristics of people who post hateful comments online, in a study published by the Australian Institute of Criminology.

The institute, a federal government crime research organisation, used the Australian eSafety commissioner's definition of online hate, framing it as "hateful posts or comments about a person or group based on discrimination or bias related to their identity or beliefs".

It surveyed almost 10,000 people between October and November 2024, and found 1.7 per cent of respondents had subjected others to online hate.

This group was also more likely to have hold misogynistic attitudes, engage in antisocial behaviour, consume fringe radical content, and have been a victim of online hate, compared to those who had not posted hateful online content.

"This cohort was also more likely to have experienced negative life events compared with those who had not subjected others to online hate," the report read.

"[They] were more likely to spend less time connecting with people offline and to be concerned about their internet use.

"These experiences align with previous research that has found online hate to be associated with close ties to online communities and low offline social capital."

The report also found the people more likely to indulge in online hate held strong beliefs about how "superior groups" should act in society.

They were more likely to agree with these two statements:

"After controlling for gender and age, these respondents were more likely to believe that some groups should hold greater dominance over others," the report read.

Researchers also measured the extent to which respondents: believed women to be manipulative and exploitative; were distrustful of women; and devalued women.

They found perpetrators of online hate were more likely to hold misogynistic attitudes, and almost twice as likely to agree with the following:

The study also found across all respondents there were no major demographic differences between perpetrators or victims of online abuse from place of residence, country of birth, or language spoken.

The research found perpetrators of online hate were likely to have had contact with the criminal justice system both as an adult and as a juvenile.

"Those who had subjected others to online hate were more likely to have used violence against another person. They were also more likely to have threatened another person," the report read.

Perpetrators of online hate were more likely to have been diagnosed with a mental health condition, and engaged in antisocial behaviour, than respondents who did not.

The report also found many have been victims of hate speech, online harassment and abuse.

It found they were more likely to be engaging in antisocial behaviour online and creating fake social media accounts.

About half of those who subjected others to online hate did at least one of the following, compared to just two per cent of those who had not:

The report also examined the relationship between viewing radical fringe content and engaging in online abuse.

It defined "fringe and radical" as online content that was political, ideological or religious in nature but viewed by wider society as unorthodox, radical or fringe.

When compared to the cohort who did not post online hate, it found those who did were almost two times more likely to have viewed fringe and radical content online.