“Being Brave on Social Media”: Coping with Bias-Based Cyberaggression Among Racialized Youth

Bias-based cyberaggression refers to hurtful online actions that target an individual based on socio-demographic characteristics (e.g., ethnicity or race). Empathy tends to be lower among cyberaggression perpetrators. The study used a mixed-methods design, including questionnaire filling-out, open-text responding, and collaborative online empathy mapping, to explore cyberaggression experiences among racialized youth. Thirteen youths (aged 13 to 25) joined the present study. Participants were mostly heterosexual young men (n = 11) who self-identified as Black (n = 12) and Indigenous (n = 1). Participants resided in Canada (n = 4), the USA (n = 4), Kenya (n = 4), and South Africa (n = 1). Findings from quantitative data suggest that participants perpetrated bias-based cyberaggression behaviors, targeting others’ sexual orientations and gender identities; they were also victims of cyberaggression for their racial identity. Qualitative findings describe targeted cyberaggression, hate speech, and hacking of social media profiles. Peers encourage them to perpetrate cyberaggression and think about how they “[want to] settle the score.” Instead, participants did not respond to hurtful posts. Participants did seek social support to cope with cyberaggression from their siblings, close relatives, and friends. Findings indicate that for research on online wellbeing, it is important to engage diverse youth with lived experience of cyberaggression. The results provide preliminary support for empathy as a potential focus of bias-based cyberaggression prevention and intervention efforts. Future research should explore these relationships in larger, more diverse samples and examine empathy-based interventions to promote safer online environments.