Islamophobia
was rampant on social media during the 2018 US
In a study,
the researchers found that the majority of anti-Muslim tweets related to the
2018 midterm elections were sent by either a select few thought leaders with
large followings on social media, or by bots — software that autonomously
tweets or retweets content.
Additionally,
Muslim candidates’ face-to-face experiences with constituents were generally
more positive than what they experienced online.
“People
retweet these messages of hate because they feel like they’re jumping on the
bandwagon where they think everyone feels that way,” said Shaheen Pasha, an
assistant teaching professor at Pennsylvania State University
In reality,
it’s just a handful of people and a lot of bots who are creating this content.
“These
hateful messages are snowballing even though the majority of people may not
agree or actually feel that way,” she added.
According
to the researchers, Islamophobia ramped up on social media as Muslim candidates
ran for seats in the US Senate and House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm
elections.
Ilhan Omar
and Rashida Tlaib, who campaigned during the election and ended up being the
first two Muslim women elected to Congress, were two of the primary targets.
Pasha said
that as more Muslims run for political office, she and the other researchers
wanted to do a deep dive into where Islamophobia on social media was coming
from, to learn more about what future Muslim candidates can expect.
“We’re
going to continue seeing these messages in the next election, especially with
candidates who are more vocal or more visibly identifiable as Muslims,” said
Pasha.
“We wanted
to put together a roadmap for future candidates that let them know what they
can expect to see online, what to expect on the ground as they speak with the
public, and what this means for them as they go out in the public eye,” she
said.
For the
study, the researchers surveyed 40 Muslim Americans who ran for office in the
2018 midterm election about their experiences during their campaigns.
The
researchers also collected data about the candidates’ social media activity and
tweets about the candidates between September 30 and November 4, 2018.
Tweets were
coded for hate speech and Islamophobic or xenophobic language.
The researchers
found that while the Muslim candidates reported little Islamophobia while
meeting with constituents face to face, there was a narrative surrounding the
candidates on social media that was “disproportionately Islamophobic,
xenophobic, racist, and misogynistic”, according to the report, recently
published by the Social Science Research Council.
For
example, 40 per cent of the 90,193 tweets referencing Omar within the study
window contained Islamophobic or anti-immigrant language.
Another 10
per cent contained Israel-related hate speech. Out of the 12,492 tweets tagging
Tlaib, 28 per cent were Islamophobic or anti-immigrant and 22 per cent attacked
her sympathy for Palestine
In
contrast, while one-third of survey respondents reported “high” or “very high”
levels of Islamophobia during their campaigns, almost 40% said they experienced
“little” or “no” Islamophobia.
Additionally,
74 per cent said they rarely or never encountered people who believe Islam is
evil or a religion of hate, and 67 per cent said they rarely or never
encountered people who think Islam supports terrorism.
“When the
candidates met people on the ground, there was some skepticism, but it wasn’t
coming from a place of hatred and vitriol like we saw online,” Pasha said.