Peer-reviewed article
Using social media data for assessing children’s exposure to violence during the COVID-19 pandemic
Pouria Babvey, Fernanda De Oliveira Capela, Claudia Cappa, Carlo Lipizzi, Nicole Petrowski et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined whether children's exposure to violence increased during COVID-19 lockdowns by analyzing social media data from Twitter and Reddit. Researchers found that discussions of violence grew significantly on Reddit forums after stay-at-home orders began, and abusive content on Twitter increased during restrictions. The study suggests that pandemic-related stressors on families, combined with children's increased online presence, may have exposed them to more violence and harmful content during lockdowns.
Key points
- Violence-related subreddits showed among the highest growth in topics after COVID-19 outbreak
- Significant increase in abusive content on Twitter during stay-at-home restrictions
- Study identified multiple risks: family violence from caregiver stress, economic uncertainty, and cyberbullying from extended online presence
- Social media data can be used to monitor changes in children's exposure to violence during crises
Limitations
This study used observational social media data rather than direct measurement of children's experiences, so it cannot confirm that children were actually exposed to more violence or that the increased online discussion reflects actual increased harm. The analysis measures online conversation volume rather than direct evidence of violence against children.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic brought unforeseen challenges that could forever change the way societies prioritize and deal with public health issues. The approaches to contain the spread of the virus have entailed governments issuing recommendations on social distancing, lockdowns to restrict movements, and suspension of services. OBJECTIVE: There are concerns that the COVID-19 crisis and the measures adopted by countries in response to the pandemic may have led to an upsurge in violence against children. Added stressors placed on caregivers, economic uncertainty, job loss or disruption to livelihoods and social isolation may have led to a rise in children's experience of violence in the home. Extended online presence by children may have resulted in increased exposure to abusive content and cyberbullying. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: This study uses testimonial-based and conversational-based data collected from social media users. METHODS: Conversations on Twitter were reviewed to measure increases in abusive or hateful content, and cyberbullying, while testimonials from Reddit forums were examined to monitor changes in references to family violence before and after the start of the stay-at-home restrictions. RESULTS: Violence-related subreddits were among the topics with the highest growth after the COVID-19 outbreak. The analysis of Twitter data shows a significant increase in abusive content generated during the stay-at-home restrictions. CONCLUSIONS: The collective experience of the COVID-19 pandemic and related containment measures offers insights into the wide-ranging risks that children are exposed to in times of crisis. As societies shift towards a new normal, which places emerging technology, remote working and online learning at its center, and in anticipation of similar future threats, governments and other stakeholders need to put in place measures to protect children from violence.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Monitoring and analysis of social media conversations to detect changes in violence-related content and discussions
- Population
- Social media users on Twitter and Reddit; study infers exposure to children indirectly
Key finding
Violence-related subreddits were among topics with highest growth after COVID-19 outbreak