Apr 4, 2018

Steven Weber on Online Hate and Bias

From the San Francisco Chronicle

On social media, a troubling rush to view YouTube shooter as driven by faith

By Hamed Aleaziz

In the moments following a shooting at YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, a report circulated that the assailant was wearing a “headscarf.”

Almost immediately, and to the despair of Muslim Americans and others, speculation on social media ignited — with some conservatives asking why the shooter would be wearing a scarf in the sunny weather....

Steven Weber, a professor at UC Berkeley’s School of Information, said, “This to me is one of those instances where social media is a loudspeaker for things that people would think and say otherwise, not the source of those things per se.”

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Last updated:

April 10, 2018