Women in politics face more personal, sexualized attacks than men, a recent analysis shows
Source: Phys
Online spaces, and social media in particular, are forums for vigorous political debate. They provide a space for members of the public to express political opinions, organize and sometimes even interact directly with politicians. While they clearly have democratizing potential, these platforms have also become fertile ground for hate speech, toxic interactions and online violence.
By analyzing more than 3.2 million responses on X (formerly Twitter) to 88 candidates for the 2024 European Parliament elections, our team at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre found significant differences in how women and men in politics are treated online.
Applying a toxicity detection algorithm called Perspective API, we studied both the volume and types of "toxic" replies received by different candidates. The algorithm's toxicity score ranges from zero to one. It estimates the likelihood that a reader would perceive text as toxic and defines toxicity as "a rude, disrespectful, or unreasonable comment that is likely to make you leave a discussion."
Online spaces, and social media in particular, are forums for vigorous political debate. They provide a space for members of the public to express political opinions, organize and sometimes even interact directly with politicians. While they clearly have democratizing potential, these platforms have also become fertile ground for hate speech, toxic interactions and online violence.
By analyzing more than 3.2 million responses on X (formerly Twitter) to 88 candidates for the 2024 European Parliament elections, our team at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre found significant differences in how women and men in politics are treated online.
Applying a toxicity detection algorithm called Perspective API, we studied both the volume and types of "toxic" replies received by different candidates. The algorithm's toxicity score ranges from zero to one. It estimates the likelihood that a reader would perceive text as toxic and defines toxicity as "a rude, disrespectful, or unreasonable comment that is likely to make you leave a discussion."