Prevalence and Impact of Hate Speech among Politicians in Switzerland

Joëlle Ninon Albrecht (), Jérôme Endrass, Michal Sonja Dreifuss, Nina Schnyder and Astrid Rossegger
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Joëlle Ninon Albrecht: Research and Development, Office of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of Justice and Home Affairs, 8090 Zurich, Switzerland
Jérôme Endrass: Research and Development, Office of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of Justice and Home Affairs, 8090 Zurich, Switzerland
Michal Sonja Dreifuss: Research and Development, Office of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of Justice and Home Affairs, 8090 Zurich, Switzerland
Nina Schnyder: Research and Development, Office of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of Justice and Home Affairs, 8090 Zurich, Switzerland
Astrid Rossegger: Research and Development, Office of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of Justice and Home Affairs, 8090 Zurich, Switzerland

Societies, 2024, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-11

Abstract: Politicians may be particularly vulnerable to hate speech because of their public visibility and exposure to deviating opinions. They play a critical role in the functioning of a democratic system, and therefore, hate speech poses a potential threat because it can impede politicians’ freedom of expression or even lead politicians to resign from office. However, little is known about the prevalence and impact of hate speech targeting politicians. We therefore surveyed the politicians in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland, 667 of whom participated (39.8% response rate). The prevalence of hate speech experiences was 29.7% in their total time as politicians and 20.6% in the past 12 months. Participants who had held a political office for longer and were affiliated with a political party on the poles of the political spectrum were more susceptible. Crucially, 29.4% of the affected politicians had contemplated resigning from politics due to hate speech. Thus, our study underlines a need for action. As the participants indicated they wanted to deal with hate speech as little as possible but still desired some form of intervention, political measures should strive for intervention options that require minimal contributions from the victims.

Keywords: hate speech; politician; survey; freedom of expression; Switzerland (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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