Spatial Distribution of Hateful Tweets Against Asians and Asian Americans During the COVID-19 Pandemic, November 2019 to May 2020.

Objectives. To illustrate the spatiotemporal distribution of geolocated tweets that contain anti-Asian hate language in the contiguous United States during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. We used a data set of geolocated tweets that match with keywords reflecting COVID-19 and anti...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:American Journal of Public Health Vol. 112; no. 4; pp. 646 - 650
Autores principales: Hohl, Alexander, Choi, Moongi, Yellow Horse, Aggie J., Medina, Richard M., Wan, Neng, Wen, Ming
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: American Public Health Association Apr2022
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Objectives. To illustrate the spatiotemporal distribution of geolocated tweets that contain anti-Asian hate language in the contiguous United States during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. We used a data set of geolocated tweets that match with keywords reflecting COVID-19 and anti-Asian hate and identified geographical clusters using the space-time scan statistic with Bernoulli model. Results. Anti-Asian hate language surged between January and March 2020. We found clusters of hate across the contiguous United States. The strongest cluster consisted of a single county (Ross County, Ohio), where the proportion of hateful tweets was 312.13 times higher than for the rest of the country. Conclusions. Anti-Asian hate on Twitter exhibits a significantly clustered spatiotemporal distribution. Clusters vary in size, duration, strength, and location and are scattered across the entire contiguous United States. Public Health Implications. Our results can inform decision-makers in public health and safety for allocating resources for place-based preparedness and response for pandemic-induced racism as a public health threat. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(4):646–649. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306653