The strategic provocation of digital hate: empowered targets’ perceptions of perpetrators and bystanders

This study investigates how scholars, as empowered individuals who have been personally targeted by digital hate, perceive perpetrators and bystanders, with an emphasis on power imbalances. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 24 university professors from Austria, France, Hungary, and Sweden, it reveals that scholars perceive digital hate not only as driven by ordinary citizens, but also as strategic provocation initiated by high-status actors, such as political parties or movements, who, while not explicitly involved in digital hate incidents, trigger broader public aggression. In terms of bystanders, their interventions were often perceived as insufficient due to fear, lack of expertise, or power asymmetries. Notably, scholars emphasized that while individual support provided emotional relief, effective intervention requires either intervention by empowered individuals or coordinated collective responses. The findings highlight the limitations of individual responses and underscore the need to reframe bystander intervention strategies when addressing digital hate against societally empowered individuals.