Pay it Forward? How Target Group and Social Norms Affect Online Bystander Intervention

Hate speech is pervasive on social media. Because such incidents can harm targets and foster hostile discourses, understanding what shapes bystander intervention is crucial. In two consecutive experimental studies, we examined how two key situational factors impact actual bystander intervention behavior: the reference group of the online hate speech (professional vs. minority group) and the platforms’ communication norm (prosocial supportive vs. anti-social non-supportive). Study 1 (N = 442) revealed that social media users perceive online hate speech targeting politicians to be less threatening than such speech targeting people with migration background or Muslims. Study 2 (N = 970), a 2-day social media simulation, confirmed that hate speech targeting politicians led to less bystander intervention. Additionally, a prosocial communication norm on the simulated platform indirectly encouraged individuals’ actual intervention by reinforcing the perceived social norm for prosocial intervention and, in turn, participants’ sense of personal responsibility.