Stop Hate Speech
Researchers Involved
research areas
timeframe
2020 - 2022
contact
gilardi@ipz.uzh.ch
Stop Hate Speech
Spreading negatively emotionally charged comments on social networks is done with one click. Unfortunately, hate speech has become a global and everyday problem.
‘Stop Hate Speech’ combines natural language processing and machine learning with civil society engagement to counter online hate speech.
The project is led by alliance F (Federation of Swiss Women’s Associations) and implemented in close collaboration with the research institute sotomo, the IT-company ama-sys, the Digital Democracy Lab (UZH) and the Public Policy Group and Immigration Policy Lab (ETH). From 2020 to 2022, the project was generously supported by InnoSuisse and from 2021 to 2022 also by a grant from BAKOM, the Swiss Federal Office of Communications.
The project seeks to algorithmically detect and analyze hate speech across a variety of online venues (newspaper and social media) and to generate actionable knowledge about effective strategies for counter speech. For this purpose, the project team develops a deep learning pipeline for automatic hate speech detection, systematically analyzes patterns of online hate speech and evaluates a range of promising counter speech strategies with experimental methods.
The close cooperation with alliance F and Swiss media outlets ensures that the scientific findings directly translate into effective detection and reduction of online hate speech. The goal is to improve the quality of public discourse and to minimize offline consequences of hostile online behavior.
