The resilience of online hate

Recent years have seen a rise in hate-oriented online network activity linked to abhorrent real-world events from hate crimes to political attacks. The authors characterize the dynamics of formation and interactions between hate-oriented networks on different online platforms and reveal their resilience. The paper mathematically models the unanticipated consequences of punitively policing on one online platform—raising the likelihood of displacement into smaller and ‘darker’ parts of the Internet. This contributes to ongoing debates on how to correctly police online hate, and suggests intervention approaches at the pan-network level.