Social media cluster dynamics create resilient global hate highways

TL;DR

This paper uncovers how tightly connected social media clusters form resilient 'hate highways' that span platforms and countries, demonstrating their self-repair ability and challenging current control strategies.

Contribution

It introduces a mathematical theory explaining the resilience of global hate networks and suggests improvements for controlling such networks.

Findings

Global hate networks are highly resilient and self-repairing.

Current control methods are likely ineffective against these resilient structures.

The study provides new insights into bipartite network dynamics in illicit networks.

Abstract

Online social media allows individuals to cluster around common interests - including hate. We show that tight-knit social clusters interlink to form resilient 'global hate highways' that bridge independent social network platforms, countries, languages and ideologies, and can quickly self-repair and rewire. We provide a mathematical theory that reveals a hidden resilience in the global axis of hate; explains a likely ineffectiveness of current control methods; and offers improvements. Our results reveal new science for networks-of-networks driven by bipartite dynamics, and should apply more broadly to illicit networks.