Bystanders’ perceptions on online hate speech: Investigating the effects of perpetrators’ justifications and the bystander’s role on bystanders’ attitude and prosocial intervention intentions

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Experiment reveals that moral disengagement impacts bystanders' attitudes, suggesting the role of identification with victims matters.

Bystanders who identify as vicarious victims have a higher intention to intervene against online hate speech.
Participants perceived online hate speech with moral excuses as equally offensive as without them, indicating a lack of impact.
A repeated measures experiment with 633 young adults tested the influence of moral disengagement on bystander behavior.
Implications suggest that stronger emotional connections to target groups can enhance prosocial responses to online hate speech.

Sara Pabian (2025) studied this question.

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