Context and Objectives

People use social media platforms to chat, search, and share information, express their opinions, and connect with others. But these platforms also facilitate the posting of divisive, harmful, and hateful messages, targeting groups and individuals, based on their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or political views. Hate content is not only a problem on the Internet, but also on traditional media, especially in places where the Internet is not widely available or in rural areas.

Despite growing awareness of the harms that exposure to hate can cause, especially to victims, there is no clear consensus in the literature on what specific impacts this exposure, as bystanders, produces on individuals, groups, and the population at large. Therefore, more research in this area is needed to develop better intervention programs and policies that are adapted to the current reality of hate.

Our review aims to give practitioners, researchers, and policymakers a better understanding of how hateful rhetoric impacts targeted individuals and communities. It also provides evidence that may help those tasked with creating preventive measures to efficiently counter hate in an integrated manner at a time when nations are making concerted efforts to contain the phenomenon. Furthermore, the review informs policymakers and professionals working in the field about existing strategic countermeasures to deal with hate speech, identify gaps in the literature, and help determine future research needs.