Online Harms In Turbulent Times: Radicalization, Polarization, Hate Speech, and Democratic Resilience

Online harms have become a central feature of contemporary digital communication, but radicalization, polarization, and hate speech are too often examined as separate phenomena. This session approaches them as interconnected and mutually reinforcing processes that emerge, evolve, and diffuse across digital platforms and societies. It asks: What structural and proximate conditions motivate and accelerate online harms? How do platform architectures, political conflicts, social inequalities, cultural contexts, and communicative practices shape their development? How do online harms affect social integration, public trust, and democratic resilience?

We invite theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions examining the production, circulation, detection, and consequences of online harms from multidisciplinary and global perspectives. Relevant topics include the changing landscape and categories of hate speech; context-sensitive approaches to identifying hateful or harmful content; the role of algorithms, networks, and online communities in spreading hostility; and the interaction among misinformation, affective polarization, radicalization, and hate.

We particularly welcome comparative and longitudinal research, computational social science, network analysis, qualitative and mixed-method approaches, and research using AI-based models. Papers may also investigate how online hostility spills over into offline hate crimes, political mobilization, social conflicts, organizational crises, or controversial marketing campaigns. By bringing together diverse regions, methods, and theoretical traditions, the session aims to clarify the dynamic mechanisms linking digital communication, social division, and democratic vulnerability, while also exploring possibilities for effective and context-sensitive moderation and intervention.