Beyond Hate Speech: Online Rumors and Out-Group Resentment in Divided Societies

The political consequences of hate speech on social media are the subject of intense research. Studies from Europe and North America have found that online exposure to hate speech affects both attitudes and offline behavior. Moving beyond hate speech, we show how little it takes for online rumors to stoke inter-group tensions in divided societies. In a pre-registered survey experiment with 3075 Hindu social media users in India, we navigate ethical challenges with very mild information treatments, post-treatment fact-checks, and debriefs. We find that even subtle online rumors change sentiments toward entire groups and heighten conflict-related emotions, especially when combined with injustice frames. As none of our information treatments classify as hate speech, these problems appear inherent to social media technology and point toward a need for a broader debate on policy responses.