A staggering surge in online hate targeting First Nations Australians during major political events has been uncovered by groundbreaking academic research.
Analysis of over three million social media posts and news comments revealed that digital racism spiked dramatically during the 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum campaign.
Lead researcher Associate Professor Matteo Vergani explained how machine learning was used to analyse digital conversations at scale.
Matteo worked alongside First Nations researchers from the Call It Out register to train algorithms to identify subtle and explicit racial abuse accurately.
The findings showed that online hate increased more than tenfold throughout the referendum period, particularly when harmful misinformation was circulated.
First Nations public figures were also found to be targeted at disproportionately higher rates than non-Indigenous public figures with similar follower counts.
Highlighting the link between fear mongering and digital abuse, Matteo noted that false political claims often triggered aggressive online behaviour towards Mob.
“We saw clearly in the data that this type of misinformation was associated with more hate targeting First Nations people,” he explained.
Addressing why digital platforms allow hostile environments to persist, Matteo pointed to corporate algorithms that prioritise user engagement over community safety.
“Content which is contentious content is exactly the content that drives engagement on the platforms.”
Rather than attempting to remove individual posts after harm has already occurred, Matteo urged tech companies to take decisive action against repeat offenders.
“If you know that the majority of hate comes from a cluster of a hundred users and you focus on them, you are doing a huge job.”
Educating the public about manipulative online tactics remains a vital step towards mitigating harm and protecting First Nations community wellbeing into the future.