Impact and dynamics of hate and counter speech online

Citizen-generated counter speech is a promising way to fight hate speech and promote peaceful, non-polarized discourse. However, there is a lack of large-scale longitudinal studies of its effectiveness for reducing hate speech. We investigate the effectiveness of counter speech using several different macro- and micro-level measures of over 180,000 political conversations that took place on German Twitter over four years. We report on the dynamic interactions of hate and counter speech over time and provide insights into whether, as in `classic' bullying situations, organized efforts are more effective than independent individuals in steering online discourse. Taken together, our results build a multifaceted picture of the dynamics of hate and counter speech online. They suggest that organized hate speech produced changes in the public discourse. Counter speech, especially when organized, could help in curbing hate speech in online discussions.