For some time now socially controversial topics in social media and online commentary columns have become more and more common for hate speech - offensive, hateful contributions by individual users. Without sufficient moderation, this hate communication can quickly escalate or prevent discussions. It is therefore recommended to the operators of the respective platforms to identify such contributions as quickly as possible and to moderate them accordingly, which, however, proves to be difficult or impossible due to the amount of data and the speed. In particular, the discussion about the admission of refugees since the summer of 2015 has fueled the fear that hate communication in social media not only poses a real threat to individuals, but can also jeopardize the overall social context. Last but not least, hate communication can be linked to the political rise of extreme right-wing parties, political disenchantment and racist crimes.

The goal of the three-year collaborative project NOHATE is to examine hate communication in social media, online forums and commentary areas on its (early) recognizability, causes and dynamics as well as potential de-escalation opportunities and to develop practical, software-based options for action. A multi-dimensional case study for the topic "Refugees, Migration, Foreigners" will provide data and an experimental field of action.

Partners of the joint project are the  Freie Universität Berlin, the Berliner Hochschule für Technik and the VICO Research & Consulting GmbH. The project is funded by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) as part of the funding measure "Strengthening cohesion in times of crisis and upheaval".

Further information about the research project can be found here.

Contact Persons are Alexander Löser and Felix Gers.