Hate speech in Spain. Research into the population's perception and experience.

One of the main ways hatred expresses itself in the virtual environment is through speech. Despite the relevance gained by the incitement of hatred due to online media, this discourse can be conveyed through different media formats, using various strategies, expressions, and languages. However, to develop strategies to combat this phenomenon, it is necessary to take into account the opinions of the population, in order to understand which types of platforms and hatred are perceived as more frequent, following the approaches of previous works such as Kenski (2020). Therefore, our study aims to contribute to the understanding of the perception and experience of the Spanish population with hate speech in the media and social networks. A quantitative research based on a previously validated questionnaire was conducted with a random sample of 421 Spaniards obtained through a subcontracted online panel. We seek to discover how they perceive and experience this phenomenon on social networks and if there are possible differences among different social groups. The study concludes that women, individuals with higher levels of education, and those with more progressive views tend to be more aware of hate speech, while age differences offer more contradictory observations, and differences in income or the size of the municipalities where they live did not prove to be relevant. Differences never have a high effect size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]