The contentious nature of certain forms of climate activism has led to a proliferation of hate comments targeting activists in online news forums. this study examines the ‘nasty effect’—the impact of uncivil language—on attitudes towards climate protection news. Specifically, we investigate how various types of hate speech within user comments influence the credibility of articles on climate protection and activism. employing a between-subject design (7x1), we conducted an online survey in austria during autumn 2023 (N = 486). our findings reveal that as the hate speech intensity
increased, the perceived credibility of related news articles declined. While overall means did not yield significant differences, individual assessments compared to the control group were significant. explicit hate speech exhibited a more pronounced negative impact on article credibility. the absence of a significant ‘nasty effect’ underscores the intricate nature of this phenomenon and its nuanced influence on public attitudes towards climate protection measures.
KEY POLICY HIGHLIGHTS
The increasing influence of implicit hate speech on online discourse, which has the potential to undermine the deliberative function of user forums, must be addressed. Measures are needed to combat implicit forms of hate speech as well.
Hate speech has the potential to harm joint social endeavours such as combating climate change. Awareness of this danger must be created in society and politics.
Recognise the link between perceived journalistic credibility, user comments and topic reception. Measures need be taken to mitigate the impact of incivility in online forums to increase journalism’s credibility.
Andreas Schulz-Tomančok & Florian Woschnagg (2024) Credibility at stake. A comparative analysis of different hate speech comments on journalistic credibility and support on climate protection measures, Cogent Social Sciences, 10:1, 2367092,
The entire book can be read and downloaded in open access at https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2024.2367092