New study links extreme temperatures to ‘dramatic rise’ in hateful tweets

A new study has thrown up some especially astounding results on how the rising heat affects human behaviour. Apparently, as temperatures rise, hateful tweets also multiply dramatically. Thestudy published by The Lancet Planetary Health logged a 22 per cent rise in racist, misogynist and homophobic tweets when temperatures rose above 42 degree Celsius.

On the other hand, when temperatures fell below minus threedegree Celsius, the hate tweets roseby 12 per cent.

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Annika Stechemesser, lead author and a scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), said, “We found that both the absolute number and the share of hate tweets rise outside a climate comfort zone. People tend to show a more aggressive online behaviour when it’s either too cold or too hot outside.”

Machine-learning algorithms were used to identify around 75 million English-phrased hate tweets in 773 US cities between 2014 and 2020. They were then logged and statistically evaluated against variations in local temperatures. The study found that abusive tweets dropped when temperatures were between 15-18 degree Celsius.

Diego Naranjo, head of policy at the European Digital Rights network, told The Guardian that current corporate models aimed at maximising attention need to be banned in order to contain hate speech online. “The Big Tech business model drives platforms to promote polarising content and as long as very large online platforms are incentivised to create viral content by spreading polarising posts, we risk more hate speech being propagated faster and putting our mental health at risk,” he said.

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Surveys indicate that four in 10 Americans have experienced some form of online harassment, while a UN report says that three quarters of women globally have witnessed online violence.

Twitter was chosen for the PIK research as it is used by one in five Americans and many of its tweets are geo-located. Afternoon time was found to be the most-favoured time for tweeting, and this is when maximum temperatures are also recorded.

(With inputs from agencies)