Mer hat – mindre prat? : En studie om hur näthat påverkar de drabbades vilja till självcensur och deltagande i det offentliga rummet.

The discussions about cyber hate has become a burning question, and there is an increasing debate about the conflict of interests between the freedom of speech and how to avoid online content that offends the personal integrity. It is often reported that celebrities have been targets of the harmful comments, but cyber hate is something that can affect us all. With the development of the Internet, more people have been able to make their voice heard and to participate actively in the public debate. Scientists believe that the Internet promotes a free exchange of opinions and improves democracy. The question is though whether it actually could lead to the opposite? The climate on the Internet gets tougher, and we see that some people use the social media comment fields in order to hurt and offend others. There is a risk that the fear of becoming a victim of cyber hate becomes greater than the will to say what you want, without limitations. This leads to widespread self-censorship and that people might feel inhibited when expressing themselves on the Internet. The aim of this thesis is to investigate a possible link between cyber hate and self-censorship, in relation to the public space and free, open and respectful debates. Through this paper we have found that there is a relationship between cyber hate and the degree of self-censorship. People affected by cyber hate tend to increase their way of censoring themselves when publishing on the Internet, although in different ways and extent