Twitter trolls know that racist/hateful content about a high profile event will be widely condemned online. But condemnation serves to further magnify the impact of these posts: positive message will be overshadowed by discussions of hateful/racist posts.
theconversation.com/euro-2020-coul…
theconversation.com/euro-2020-coul…
What is surprising is that @Twitter allows the process to continue. There is no ambiguity about these outcomes, only variability in the scale. Twitter has archives of online firestorms in many contexts & is aware of the conditions, characteristics & outcomes of these occurrences.
Based on this knowledge, the rapid immediate cascades that result in the predictable cycle of hateful content and condemnation could be minimised using tools Twitter have already developed, such as prompting users to rethink their tweets that may include harmful language.
These tools could be adapted to provide warnings that encourage users to think before they RT, & slow the rate of reactions to hateful content. While not a comprehensive solution, it can be applied in high profile events such as #Euro2020Final to stem the spread of abuse online.
While this raises some questions around the right to free speech, in some cases, especially where there is potential for violence or an immediate threat against people or groups, there may be reasonable justification for taking action.
Questions remain around when to intervene & the extent to which intervention may push hateful discussions to other platforms. Still, it's worth exploring – the discussions the day after the Euro 2020 final should have been about our history-making #ENG team, not racist abuse.
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