Hate speech more on Twitter than FB, says study

Use of colourful language by PTI and PML-N supporters against each other

LAHORE: A research study shows hate speech is more prevalent on Twitter despite the social media platform having only 3.5 million users as compared to 32 million Facebook users in Pakistan.

These were the findings of a research study called ‘Electoral Hate-speech on Social Media in Pakistan’ which was launched on Sunday.



It was part of youth development organisation Bargad’s project called “Youth Actions for Peaceful Elections”. The project trained 200 students from 10 universities of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

It explored how social media was enabling discourses of hate speech and looked at how words were used tools for election campaigning by candidates, supporters, and influencers.

According to the results of the study, photos and videos were the most popular sources of hate speech.



“Allegations and character assassination are the most widespread forms of hate speech, followed by religious intolerance and sexism. A lot of hate speech is directed towards sexism, thus reflecting the gender imbalance. In the online space, women were frequently attacked during the monitoring period.”

The use of colourful language was used by PTI and PML-N supporters against each other, says the study.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23^rd, 2018.