Do Anonymity and Collective Efficacy in Online Spaces Encourage Participation in Online Vigilantism?

In recent years, instances of online vigilantism have become increasingly prevalent as collective responses to social incidents within digital spaces. Unlike traditional offline practices, online vigilantism is characterized by the active use of online platforms and mass criticism carried out anonymously. Focusing on these distinct features, this study investigates how these two major characteristics of online environments—anonymity and online collective efficacy—influence individuals’ willingness to participate in online vigilantism. Specifically, the study examines the indirect effect of perceived anonymity on willingness to engage in online vigilantism through the mediating role of online collective efficacy, which is further divided into two sub-factors: cohesion and informal social control. Data were drawn from a nationwide online survey of 1,000 Korean adults conducted in January 2024. Mediation analysis was performed using the SPSS PROCESS macro. The results reveal that both sub-factors of online collective efficacy significantly and positively mediated the relationship between anonymity and willingness to participate in online vigilantism. However, the direct effect of anonymity was not statistically significant, indicating a full mediation effect. In other words, a heightened perception of anonymity increases participation in online vigilantism by enhancing group cohesion and informal control within online communities. This study highlights the functional role of anonymity in fostering normative group behavior and identifies online collective efficacy as a critical mediating factor in the dynamics of online vigilantism. Based on these findings, policy recommendations are proposed to support the healthy realization of justice in online spaces.