The Impact of Culture on Online Toxic Disinhibition: Trolling in India and the USA

Abstract

The pervasiveness of online trolling has been attributed to the effect of online toxic disinhibition, suggesting that perpetrators behave in less socially desirable ways online than they do offline. It is possible that this disinhibition effect allows for everyone to start on a level playing field online, regardless of race, gender, or nationality, but it is likewise possible that the disinhibition effect is context-dependent and sensitive to socio-cultural variations. We aim to explore if toxic online disinhibition effects depend on national culture and gender by examining the extent of trolling towards tweets by Americans and Indians, from both genders. Content analysis of 3,000 Twitter posts reveals that significantly more trolling comments were posted on tweets by Americans than by Indians, and on tweets by women than men. We conclude that the online disinhibition effect may exacerbate, replicate, or mediate existing socio-cultural differences, but it does not eliminate them.