Since the Prime Minister resigned three days ago there has been considerable debate about whether she (and other women) receive more vitriol online than male politicians and other public figures.
As this article points out, there are strong indications that she does, but there is a lack of systematic data to say so for sure and to what extent stuff.co.nz/national/the-w…
This thread (and a more detailed report HEIA will soon release) is an attempt to provide one body of data to inform this debate.
We analyse a section of the online data we collect, that from some of the platforms where the darkest and most extreme posting often occurs: Gab, 4chan, selected nz telegram channels, reddit, 8kun
We include posts from 2019 to 2022, although the quantity of posts collected increased markedly from late 2021. We endeavour to identify NZ-based posters (maintaining anonymity) using a range of techniques
We calculated the total number of posts about PM Ardern and 6 other leading politicians and bureaucrats, both men and women, from parties on the left and right, some with prominent positions in the fight against Covid, some not
While the other high profile figures were each mentioned in between 200 and 400 posts over the study period, the PM was mentioned in over 18,000 posts. This was 92% of the total body of posts
Of the posts we would classify as negative, hateful, sexually explicit or toxic, those mentioning the PM made up 93% of the total – 5438 posts. The other individuals each had fewer than a hundred such angry or threatening posts directed at them
A striking aspect of the posting mentioning the PM was that it was largely consistent across the period. While for other figures such posting generally peaks in response to events and then drops, posting targeting the PM was constant, incessant.
Also striking was that the average negativity, anger and toxicity targeted at the PM was increasing in the last 6 months of 2022 (despite the very large number of posts), showing no signs of subsiding
And while posters who talk about the other individuals would on average post about that person 1.7 times, those mentioning the PM would on average post about her almost 5 times
This is not a claim about why the PM resigned but does provide one form of data to support claims that she faced exceptionally high levels of abuse
Ps, new Twitter makes it really hard to do threads.
In op ed form stuff.co.nz/opinion/131045…
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
