DP14877 Social Media and Xenophobia: Evidence from Russia
Author(s): | Leonardo Bursztyn, Georgy Egorov, Ruben Enikolopov, Maria Petrova |
Publication Date: | June 2020 |
Keyword(s): | Hate crime, Russia, social media, Xenophobia |
JEL(s): | D7, H0, J15 |
Programme Areas: | Public Economics |
Link to this Page: | cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=14877 |
We study the causal effect of social media on ethnic hate crimes and xenophobic attitudes in Rus- sia and the mechanisms underlying this effect, using quasi-exogenous variation in social media penetration across cities. Higher penetration of social media led to more hate crimes in cities with a high pre-existing level of nationalist sentiment. Consistent with a mechanism of coordination of crimes, the effects are stronger for crimes with multiple perpetrators. Using a national survey experiment, we also find evidence of a mechanism of persuasion: social media led individuals (especially young, male, and less-educated ones) to hold more xenophobic attitudes.