A comment on "From Hashtag to Hate Crime: Twitter and Antiminority Sentiment"

Shumi Akhtar, Kien Hoang-Le, Haoxuan Liu and Vidhulaa Vangal

No 246, I4R Discussion Paper Series from The Institute for Replication (I4R)

Abstract: Karsten Müller and Carlo Schwarz (2022) investigate the impact of Twitter on anti-Muslim hate crimes, demonstrating that higher Twitter usage correlates with increased hate crimes, particularly during Donald Trump's political rise. Their findings highlight social media's ability to amplify xenophobic attitudes and translate online rhetoric into real-world violence. Our replication confirms the main findings, showing that a one standard deviation increase in Twitter usage is associated with a 32% rise in hate crimes. While minor rounding differences exist, our computational results align with the original study, reinforcing the robustness of its empirical framework. Extending the analysis, we show heterogeneity in Twitter's impact, finding that weighting by Muslim population share strengthens the effect, whereas population-weighted estimates yield a weaker relationship, suggesting demographic composition plays a crucial role. Additionally, our urban-rural analysis reveals that Twitter's influence on hate crimes is significantly stronger in urban areas, likely due to higher connectivity and media exposure. Finally, we assess educational attainment, demonstrating that higher education mitigates the amplification of anti-Muslim tweets into hate crimes. These findings underscore the need for policy interventions, including digital literacy programs, targeted content moderation, and algorithmic adjustments, to curb online hate speech and its offline consequences.

Date: 2025
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