FUEL TO THE FLAMES

Facebook Drove Anti-Refugee Attacks in Germany, Says New Research

Higher Facebook use linked to higher anti-refugee violence.

German towns with higher than average Facebook use have experienced more attacks on refugees, a new report has found. The data showed that wherever per-person Facebook use rose to one standard deviation above the national average, attacks on refugees increased by about 50 percent. The research, carried out by academics at the University of Warwick, claims that regardless of the size, affluence, or politics of a town, the link between Facebook and anti-refugee violence appeared to apply universally. Karsten Müller and Carlo Schwarz, researchers at Warwick, scrutinized all 3,335 anti-refugee attacks in Germany over a two-year span. Nationwide, the researchers estimate the Facebook effect drove one-tenth of all anti-refugee violence in Germany. “You can get this impression that there is widespread community support for violence,” said Betsy Paluck, a Princeton University social psychologist. “And that changes your idea of whether, if you acted, you wouldn’t be acting alone.”