Applying differential association theory to online hate groups: a theoretical statement

Social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Google+) and information and communication technologies (ICT) more generally has altered human interaction. This technology provides tools for instantaneous communication and facilitates social organization. The participants in the uprisings of the Arab Spring used cell phones, text messages, Twitter and Facebook to circumvent and, in Tunisia and Egypt, topple totalitarian régimes (Stepanova, 2011). With each passing crisis, the importance of social media for disseminating information becomes increasingly clear. For example, after the 2007 mass murder at Virginia Tech, many survivors used social media to inform loved ones that they were alright, get information about their friends’ wellbeing, or get information about the tragedy (see Mastrodicasa, 2008; Eberhardt, 2007; Hawdon & Ryan, 2012). Similarly, in 2011, police in Queensland Australia used Facebook to dissemination emergency information and locate those needing assistance during a series of flash flooding events (Taylor et al., 2012). Indeed, social media facilitates daily communication, organizational meetings, political campaigns, product marketing, and even attempts to apprehend criminals (see Garrett, 2006). Yet, as a space for open communication, the Internet also enables the formation of hate groups that glorify mass murderers, espouse racist and xenophobic ideology, or advocate violence for a wide range of reasons. Social media sites have been attractive forums for school shooters (Kiilakoski & Oksanen, 2011) and others aiming to commit acts of terror such as the 2011 tragedy in Utøya Norway (Murer, 2011). Although the use of social media by hate groups emerged contemporaneously with the Web, few have researched what influence these groups have. Does it matter if children hear or read hate messages online? Will increasingly active onlinehate groups lead to more acts of mass violence and terror, or is concern over the widespread web presence of hate groups simply a moral panic? If we consider the potential influence of these groups in light of criminological theories, it becomes clear that they pose a danger. Although mass shootings are likely to remain rare, social media sites may very well con-