Canterbury academic to edit ‘digital hate’ research collection

An international collection of research on the rise of hate speech and antisocial activity on social media is to include an analysis of the attacks on two mosques in New Zealand on 15 March.

The series will be edited by Mike Grimshaw, a University of Canterbury sociologist whose research interests include cultural nationalism. It will be published online by Palgrave Communications, an open-access research journal.

“There was a lot of on-the-spot analysis and discussion after March 15. This research collection seeks to gain a wider understanding of what is giving rise to this problem. It’s a critical discussion and a global discussion,” Grimshaw says in a university statement.