Vindication, Virtue and Vitriol: A study of online engagement and abuse toward British MPs during the COVID-19 Pandemic

TL;DR

This study analyzes online abuse directed at British MPs during COVID-19, revealing that controversial topics like racism attract more abuse, while engagement varies with subject sensitivity.

Contribution

It provides a large-scale mixed methods analysis of online abuse towards UK politicians during the pandemic, highlighting how topic sensitivity influences abuse levels.

Findings

Criticising authorities correlates with higher abuse levels.

Topics like racism and inequality attract more abuse.

Engagement varies with the subject's controversy and public interest.

Abstract

COVID-19 has given rise to malicious content online, including online abuse and hate toward British MPs. In order to understand and contextualise the level of abuse MPs receive, we consider how ministers use social media to communicate about the crisis, and the citizen engagement that this generates. The focus of the paper is on a large-scale, mixed methods study of abusive and antagonistic responses to UK politicians during the pandemic from early February to late May 2020. We find that pressing subjects such as financial concerns attract high levels of engagement, but not necessarily abusive dialogue. Rather, criticising authorities appears to attract higher levels of abuse. In particular, those who carry the flame for subjects like racism and inequality, may be accused of virtue signalling or receive higher abuse levels due to the topics they are required by their role to address. This work contributes to the wider understanding of abusive language online, in particular that which is directed at public officials.