Understanding online hate protects society

Social media enables exchange, creativity, and community, but it has also become a space where hate spreads quickly and publicly. To better understand how this happens, Prof. Dr. Joseph B. Walther will give an on-site lecture at the University of Duisburg-Essen on 11 December 2025 at 10:00 a.m. in room LE 104.

Prof. Walther is one of the world’s leading scholars on digital interpersonal communication. His theories and studies have helped universities, journalists, platform designers, and public institutions understand how online interaction influences behavior, belonging, and conflict.

The talk, titled “Online Hate: Social Interaction Among Haters and the Pollution of Social Media,” challenges a common assumption: that hate speech is mainly directed at its victims. Walther’s research suggests that hate posters also communicate with one another, seeking recognition, group identity, and approval. This dynamic can reinforce hostility, making hate more persistent and socially rewarding. His recent empirical work - including studies on anti-immigrant, antisemitic, and anti-Islamic posts, as well as a corpus from Gab - provides evidence and raises new questions.

Prof. Walther holds the Bertelsen Presidential Chair in Technology and Society at UC Santa Barbara, is a Distinguished Professor of Communication, associated with the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard, and a Fellow of the International Communication Association. His theories, including the social information processing framework and the hyperpersonal model, are among the most influential in communication science.

The lecture is open to anyone interested in digital society, online culture, public debate, or the impact of mediated interaction. It offers accessible insights for students, researchers, stakeholders, and all who care about safer and more constructive online environments.