Political Disinformation and Hate Speech on Facebook: the Attitude of Young Armenians Towards Modern Cyber Challenges

Abstract

This research explores political disinformation and hate speech on Facebook with particular stress on the attitude of the Armenian young population after Velvet revolution in Armenia. The empirical results find that cyber disinformation and hate speech in Armenia are mainly provoked and encouraged by two general components; political and social. In the case of political factors, the ongoing domestic political situation and foreign influence interests are highlighted. Whereas, in the case of social factors, the level of media literacy and social media’s rising role in society is emphasized. The study also reveals that despite the unclear extent of social media’s influence on people’s political participation, engagement in different social media platforms has a significantly growing role among young people, particularly in terms of developing political knowledge, getting aware of daily political news, of following politicians’ and political institutions’ activities, of discussing ongoing developments and transformations, highlighting questions and sharing opinions.