The WWW of digital hate perpetration: What, who, and why? A scoping review

Fueled by the growing presence of information and communication technologies, digital hate (DH) perpetration poses significant threats. Although a substantial body of research addresses DH perpetration, existing literature lacks conceptual clarity as numerous, somewhat vaguely distinguishable phenomena are being investigated in parallel. This scoping review organizes extant findings concerning personal, social, and environmental factors related to these various phenomena by grouping them into six categories based on two key factors: DH type (holistic or specific) and DH target (generic, romantic/sexual, or miscellaneous groups). Our analyses of N = 512 primary studies reveal an overrepresentation of holistic DH directed at generic targets. Personal factors are frequently examined, while social and especially environmental factors are typically only secondary outcomes. The literature lacks in-depth explorations of links to offline hate, perpetrators’ motivational backgrounds, and the role of prior victimization, especially concerning specific DH. We recommend future research to address these crucial research gaps more thoroughly and emphasize the need for a conceptual disentanglement of the field.