Conference Program

The abstract was intended for panel M16, but it does not appear in the list of selectable panels, so I selected panel M07

In contemporary onlife environments (Floridi, 2015), where digital and material dimensions of experience are increasingly intertwined, online hate speech has become a pervasive and structural feature of social media communication. This article examines the phenomenon not through the traditional focus on perpetrators or victims, but through the lens of digital spectatorship, a position marked by visibility, emotional exposure and frequent passivity. Drawing on media education theory and a realistic evaluation framework (Pawson & Tilley, 1997; Pawson, 2006), the study investigates how users observe, interpret and respond to discriminatory discourse targeting bodies, identities and subjectivities that deviate from dominant norms.

The empirical research, developed within the PRIN 2022 project Theories, Philosophies and Politics of Bodies in Network-Connected Digital Universes, combines an evaluative survey with an expert-based Nominal Group Technique. Findings indicate high exposure to hate speech, but despite this pervasive presence, spectators predominantly adopt non-interventionist attitudes. These behaviours reflect the bystander effect in digital contexts (Latané & Darley, 1970; Markey, 2000) and are reinforced by mechanisms of moral disengagement (Bandura, 1996).

The NGT phase highlights the need for multi-level interventions integrating individual, community and educational approaches. Experts emphasise the importance of training users to recognise subtle hostility, fostering collective moderation practices and embedding media education modules within schools and public institutions. The findings underscore that countering online hate speech requires moving beyond regulatory or punitive strategies: it demands an educational paradigm centred on critical media literacy (Kellner & Share, 2007), emotional awareness, responsibility and active digital citizenship (Bornatici, 2017; Perfetti, 2020).

Overall, the study argues that spectatorship represents both a vulnerability and a potential resource for democratic participation. Enhancing media competence and socio-emotional skills is essential for transforming passive witnessing into prosocial engagement (Rivoltella & Ardizzone, 2007) and for promoting inclusive digital public spaces capable of resisting normalised patterns of symbolic violence.