Violent Content Research Articles

A Storm on the Horizon? “Twister” and the Implications of the Blockchain and Peer-to-Peer Social Networks for Online Violent Extremism

“Twister,” developed by Miguel Freitas, is a social network platform centered around micro-blogging, much like Twitter. However, rather than relying on centralized servers owned and maintained by a single firm, Twister users operate a blockchain combined with distributed hash table (DHT)–like and BitTorrent-like protocols to both make posts and send private messages, and also to receive entries from other users. Twister’s raison d’etre is that it offers a social networking platform that cannot be censored and cannot itself censor. The software does not record the Internet Protocol addresses users use to access the service, nor does it notify other users of an account’s online/offline status. Growing adoption of blockchain services means that it is possible that the concept of decentralized social networks could become a norm. It is suggested in this article that blockchain-based peer-to-peer social networks present challenges to the current counterextremist practices for content removal and censorship. While there are methods to disrupt usage of blockchain-based peer-to-peer services, these approaches may have the net harm of curtailing bona fide use of legal and novel technologies. Given this opportunity cost, non-transitory online violent extremist content may need to be tolerated.

Brand safety: the effects of controversial video content on pre-roll advertising

Newspapers have reported instances of famous brands' ads running as pre-rolls to terrorist videos on YouTube. Subsequent brand safety fears have led to advertisers pulling their YouTube ads. This study, a lab experiment, tested the effects of program quality and content—particularly violent, sexual or extremist content—on pre-roll ads. The experiment used measures from studies showing significant broadcast TV content effects on mid-roll advertising, using more extreme cable TV content to increase the chances of finding significant effects on pre-roll ads. Overall, the effects were minimal, with no effects on brand attitudes, ad liking, or three ad memory components—encoding, storage, and retrieval. In contrast to research showing program context effects on mid-roll advertising, context effects (e.g., on brand safety) do not seem an issue for pre-roll ads. A brand's reputation might suffer negative effects from pre-roll advertising in other ways, however. A limitation is that this study did not re-test the effects of controversial content on mid-roll advertising.

레저활동으로서 동영상 시청의 유해성에 관한 연구 : 유튜브 동영상의 추천 알고리즘을 중심으로

With advanced technology, teenagers have become spending lots of time on watching video contents (e.g. video streaming services) as their leisure. YouTube, a major video-sharing and streaming website worldwide, becomes a mainstream of a media channel, therefore it’s highly needed to figure out if there’s a safe security system for teenagers from harnful contents on their website. We ran an experiment with 30 university students to see if “recommended contents” placed on the right side of the YouTube website could lead any adult-related or violent contents that teenagers should not watch. The result showed that 60% of participants could access harmful contents by clicking just 2 recommended “off-topic” contents. This has shown that teenagers could access any violent or lewd videos on YouTube if they want, even though the website requires the verification of an adult user. In this paper, we criticize this issue and discuss a solution.

The Impact of Media on Juvenile Delinquency in the Care of Abu Dhabi and Fujairah - United Arab Emirates

This study was aimed to investigate the impact of the media on juvenile delinquency in the care of Abu Dhabi and Fujairah - United Arab Emirates, as well as studying the behaviours of adolescents in watching the media and its influence on them, and also measuring the readiness of the delinquents to accept the awareness of media as a means of adjustment and a proactive means to prevent delinquency. A quantitative approach was used for this study, A questionnaire was distributed to 46 delinquent juveniles (39 males and 7 females) who were taken care of by Abu Dhabi and Fujairah care homes, and it was also distributed to 120 intermediate and secondary school students (65 males and 55 females) in Abu Dhabi and Fujairah. The findings showed that there is a positive relationship between the number of school failures in adolescents more than twice and the possibility of a teenager at risk of becoming a delinquent, the probability of juvenile delinquency and high rates for adolescents who watch different media materials. The results also showed that there is no relationship between adolescents imitating violent content in media and the phenomenon of juvenile delinquency. As a conclusion, Juvenile delinquency is more likely to be in the 15 to 17 age group.

Bots increase exposure to negative and inflammatory content in online social systems.

Societies are complex systems, which tend to polarize into subgroups of individuals with dramatically opposite perspectives. This phenomenon is reflected-and often amplified-in online social networks, where, however, humans are no longer the only players and coexist alongside with social bots-that is, software-controlled accounts. Analyzing large-scale social data collected during the Catalan referendum for independence on October 1, 2017, consisting of nearly 4 millions Twitter posts generated by almost 1 million users, we identify the two polarized groups of Independentists and Constitutionalists and quantify the structural and emotional roles played by social bots. We show that bots act from peripheral areas of the social system to target influential humans of both groups, bombarding Independentists with violent contents, increasing their exposure to negative and inflammatory narratives, and exacerbating social conflict online. Our findings stress the importance of developing countermeasures to unmask these forms of automated social manipulation.

Social Media and (Counter) Terrorist Finance: A Fund-Raising and Disruption Tool

The proliferation of social media has created a terrorist finance vulnerability due to the ease with which propaganda can be spread, promoting fund-raising for a certain cause. Social media companies recognize the importance of preventing violent extremist and terrorist content, but less attention is paid to their fund-raising role. As well as presenting a threat, the movement of terrorist fund-raising activities online creates a disruption opportunity. This article argues that social media companies need to display greater awareness of their vulnerability to supporting terrorist financing and greater collaboration with law enforcement and financial institutions to strengthen the integrity of the system against abuse.

Sexo, violencia y estereotipos en el brand equity de una serie. El caso de Juego de Tronos

Theoretical framework. The audiovisual sector has grown and evolved in recent years with the appearance of new products and companies that strive to achieve leadership in the sector, such as HBO or Netflix. Thus, the “Third Golden Age of Television” brings with it an increase in sexual, violent and stereotyped contents in television series. Objective. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of these three elements in the construction of the Brand Equity of a series, specifically in the case of Game of Thrones. Methodology. Through a questionnaire supplied to a sample of 240 subjects, analyzes are carried out by means of structural equations through LISREL, in order to determine the existence of relationships between attitude toward sex, violence and stereotypes and the formation of Brand Equity. Results. The results confirm the existence of a direct and positive relationship between attitudes towards violence, sex and stereotypes and the formation of Brand Equity. Conclusions. This research increases the literature related to Brand Equity, in a novel sector such as television series, confirming the importance of sex, violence and stereotypes when building Brand Equity. Implications: This study can serve as a tool for the producers of television series, in general, and of Game of Thrones, in particular, since they should balance the presence of these contents in their creations since they can affect the evaluation by the spectators, affecting their Brand Equity.

Training Young Killers: How Butcher Education Might Be Damaging Young People

Abstract The job of butcher requires the routinized mass killing of nonhuman animals and has damaging mental health consequences for individuals and negative impacts on society. However, vocational training for butchers is part of many educational systems in the European Union where teenagers can start training from the age 0/15. In this article, I explore the effects of the violent content of this training on young people and its relation to the context of their developmental period—adolescence. In addition, I examine society’s paradoxical stance on violence where it is both abhorred and sanctioned as well as normalized in various employment contexts.

Violence depicted in advertisements on LinkNYC kiosks in Manhattan, New York City

Violence has a profound negative impact on the lives of youth. Exposure to violence may be a precursor to violence later in life. The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to estimate the prevalence of violence depicted in advertisements on LinkNYC kiosks in Manhattan, NYC, and (2) to determine if violent advertising varied based on the median annual income of the zip code in which the kiosk was located. This cross-sectional study involved observations of advertisements on 100 LinkNYC kiosks that were selected randomly from 500 that were listed in Manhattan, NYC. The frequency and type of violent depictions were recorded. The kiosks were grouped into quartiles of median annual income (1) $40,782 and below (2) $40,783 to $86,801 (3) $86,802 to $105,500 and (4) $105,501 and above. Of the 2025 total advertisements observed, including duplicates, a total of 190 (9.4%) included violent content. These 190 advertisements were observed on 68 of the 100 kiosks and included 339 depictions of violence. The overwhelming majority (n = 136; 71.6%) of violent depictions were for movies. There were significant differences in the frequency of violent content based on income quartiles, χ2 (3, n = 190) = 19.00, p < 0.001. The highest two income quartiles had fewer violent advertisements than would be expected and the lowest quartile had more violent advertisements than expected. Symbols of violence were the most frequent type of violence portrayed observed in 85% of the violent advertisements observed (n = 161). Weapons, crime and fighting were observed in 5-11% of the advertisements. Our study suggests that greater alignment between the city's aims to improve community health and reduce health disparities and advertising policies on LinkNYC warrants consideration.

Influence of Adolescents Smartphone Dependency on the Aggression Mediated by Depression

비행 청소년의 주요한 특징 중 하나는 높은 공격성이다. 청소년의 공격성은 성인으로까지 지속될 수 있으며 비행이나 범죄로까지 이어질 수 있다. 우리나라의 스마트폰 보급률은 세계 1위이며 청소년의 15%이상이 스마트폰 과의존 위험군에 있다고 한다. 사회학습이론에 따르면 청소년의 공격성은 다양한 대중매체의 폭력적, 파괴적인 내용을 학습한 결과일 수 있다고 하는데 청소년의 스마트폰 과의존은 유해한 대중매체의 영향을 받을 가능성을 높게 하고 있으며 따라서 스마트폰 과의존은 청소년의 공격성을 증가시킬 수 있다. 또한 스마트폰의존도가 높은 청소년의 경우 우울의 정도가 높고 우울은 공격성을 증가시키는 주요한 요인이 되고 있다. 이에 본 연구에서는 스마트폰 의존도가 공격성의 주요 요인이 되며 그 과정에서 우울이 매개효과를 할 것이라고 보고 이를 검증하고자 하였다. 연구 결과, 스마트폰 의존도는 우울에 유의미한 정의 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났으며 우울은 공격성에에 유의미한 정의 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 스마트폰 의존도는 공격성에 유의미한 정의 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 결국 스마트폰 의존도가 공격성에 영향을 미치는 과정에서 우울이 매개효과가 있는 것을 알 수 있었으며 매개효과의 검증을 위한 붓스트래핑을 실시 결과에서도 간접효과가 유의한 것으로 나타나 스마트폰 의존도는 우울을 매개하여 공격 성에 영향을 미치는 것을 알 수 있었다.One of the main characteristics of adolescents delinquents is high aggression. Adolescents aggression can last as adults and can lead to delinquency or crime. Korea s smartphone penetration is the world s number one, with more than 15% of adolescents at risk of dependence on smartphones. According to social learning theory, adolescents aggressiveness can be a result of learning violent and destructive contents of various mass media. Adolescents smart phones and dependence are highly likely to be affected by harmful mass media, Can increase the aggressiveness of adolescents. In addition, adolescents who are highly dependent on smartphones are more depressed and depression is a major factor in increasing aggression. In this study, we tried to verify that the dependence of smartphone is the main factor of aggression and that depression is mediating effect in the process. As a result of the study, the reliance on smartphone showed a significant positive impact on depression and depression had a significant positive impact on aggression. Also, the reliance on smartphone has a significant positive impact on aggression. As a result, it was found that depression was mediating effect in the process of dependence of smartphone on aggressiveness, and indirect effect was significant in the result of bootstrapping for mediating effect, And that the effect was significant.

Morbid Curiosity and Monstrous (Re)Visions: Zombies, Sea Monsters, and Readers (Re)Writing Jane Austen

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the new genre of the literary mash-up by situating Seth Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009) and Ben H. Winter’s Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (2009) within the larger tradition of Jane Austen adaptations. In order to address how the genre of the “mash-up” could arise from the reading of a classic text and explain the possible impact of such narrative insertions and interruptions on the original author’s work, this paper proposes a theory of penetrative reading that highlights the disruptive and often violent potential of the reader. Penetrative in both a methodological sense and in terms of the sexually suggestive and explicitly violent content that is inserted into the source text, Grahame-Smith’s and Winters’s revisions of Austen not only violate the integrity of the author’s original text but also complicate the gender dynamics at play within each narrative, ultimately re-gendering not only Austen’s heroines but also Austen herself. Commodifying not only the words of Austen but also the catch-phrases, key terms, and concepts of feminist, psychoanalytic, and postcolonial literary theory, these hybrid narratives unconsciously interrogate and satirize the very act of scholarly interpretation.

Teaching vicarious trauma in the journalism classroom: An examination of educational provision in UK universities

Abstract The connections between vicarious trauma and the viewing of violent User-Generated Content (UGC) are becoming an increasingly important topic in journalism. As more journalist work begins to rely, or at least incorporate UGC, the risks to journalists have been shown to increase. This can lead to short, unpleasant careers, and in some cases, serious, long-lasting mental health risks. Yet while this discussion is beginning to unfold in the newsroom, universities are lagging behind in their understanding of the topic. This article, through content analysis of undergraduate course materials, and through interviews with lecturers and journalists, found that almost no course in the United Kingdom is teaching the risks of vicarious trauma or UGC. It was found that while some educators wish to make more of the topic, a number of institutional factors, such as lack of training and time, worries over duty of care, and available resources make this a difficult, if not impossible task. The article recommends a new emphasis is placed on vicarious trauma, coupled with training and interdepartmental support.

Moderating the ‘worst of humanity’: sexuality, witnessing, and the digital life of coloniality

ABSTRACTAn estimated 100,000 people worldwide work as content moderators, responding to the millions of photographs and videos uploaded online every minute. Primarily employed by outsourcing companies in the Philippines, these labourers scrub social media of sexual content. This article unpacks what it calls the ‘digital life of coloniality’ as it is produced through content moderation along two lines of interrogation. The article initially suggests that the traditional understanding of the coming together of sexuality, subjectivity, and regulation under colonialism are rendered more complex by content moderation, positioning the formerly colonized as regulators of their former colonizers’ sexualities. Secondly, asking questions of witnessing, ethics, and accountability, the article interrogates the lines of disavowal and displacement which structure the offshoring of violent, obscene, and mundane sexual content. Contributing to the field of porn studies, this article suggests that the ambivalent and multiple directions of sexual subject production within digital coloniality be addressed anew.

“Harder and Harder”? Is Mainstream Pornography Becoming Increasingly Violent and Do Viewers Prefer Violent Content?

It is a common notion among many scholars and pundits that the pornography industry becomes “harder and harder” with every passing year. Some have suggested that porn viewers, who are mostly men, become desensitized to “soft” pornography, and producers are happy to generate videos that are more hard core, resulting in a growing demand for and supply of violent and degrading acts against women in mainstream pornographic videos. We examined this accepted wisdom by utilizing a sample of 269 popular videos uploaded to PornHub over the past decade. More specifically, we tested two related claims: (1) aggressive content in videos is on the rise and (2) viewers prefer such content, reflected in both the number of views and the rankings for videos containing aggression. Our results offer no support for these contentions. First, we did not find any consistent uptick in aggressive content over the past decade; in fact, the average video today contains shorter segments showing aggression. Second, videos containing aggressive acts are both less likely to receive views and less likely to be ranked favorably by viewers, who prefer videos where women clearly perform pleasure.

Conductas agresivas, victimización y uso problemático de videojuegos en escolares de educación primaria de la provincia de Granada

El uso abusivo de ocio digital de pantalla en niños y niñas en edad escolar genera múltiples problemas de tipo cognitivo y emocional. En este sentido, el uso de videojuegos de contenido violento puede generar trastornos en el comportamiento prosocial de los sectores más jóvenes de población, ligándose a conductas agresivas de diverso tipo. Se realizó un estudio de tipo descriptivo y corte transversal en una muestra de 519 escolares (M = 11.77 ± 1.19), cuyo principal objetivo fue determinar las relaciones existentes entre las conductas violentas en la escuela, los tipos de victimización y el uso problemático de videojuegos y su género en una muestra de estudiantes de Educación Primaria. Para ello, los principales instrumentos empleados fueron la escala de conductas agresivas en la escuela (Little, Henrich, Jones y Hawley, 2003), la escala de victimización en la escuela (Mynard y Joseph, 2000) y el cuestionario de experiencias relacionadas con videojuegos (Chamarro et al., 2014). Los resultados revelan que los escolares que padecían problemas potenciales o severos ligados al uso de videojuegos eran los que mayores puntuaciones reflejaban en agresividad manifiesta y relacional y victimización física y verbal. Asimismo, utilizar juegos de acción y rol, los cuales suelen incluir contenidos violentos, se asoció con mayores niveles de agresividad manifiesta y victimización relacional. Se hallaron correlaciones positivas entre el uso problemático de videojuegos y todas las categorías de agresividad y victimización. Como conclusiones, se demuestra como el uso de dispositivos de pantalla se relaciona sobremanera con los niveles de agresividad y victimización en escolares, revelando la importancia de realizar un consumo adecuado, así como fomentar conductas prosociales desde diferentes estamentos para paliar esta problemática.

Between Horror and Obscene Beauty: The Passion of Photojournalism during the War on Drugs in Mexico (2006–2012)

This article examines a group of photographs bearing a strong violent content that were published in print and digital media as part of the coverage of the ‘war against drugs’ in Mexico: an armed conflict initiated by the central government in December 2006. This military action was the first step in a process of militarization affecting several states, in which an attempt was made to dismantle territorial pacts between cartels, to control the illegal traffic in drugs and, supposedly, to put an end to the use and production of drugs among the population. This war gave rise to one of the bloodiest episodes of contemporary Mexico in which drug cartels reproduced and invented new methods of torture that were used not only upon the gunmen of rival cartels but also on a significant number of civilians. In the coverage of these events, not all photojournalists reacted to this upsurge in violence in a ‘sensationalist’ manner; several set out to produce images from unusual points of view. In particular, I shall analyze how certain images represent violence in a tense relationship with artistic iconography, upsetting parameters of horror and beauty in the public sphere.

Correction to: High-Risk Behavior Among Young Adolescents in The Central and Northern Region of Peninsular Malaysia: Baseline Data from The MyHeART Study

The onset of high-risk behaviors in adolescents are associated with family, social and behavioral factors. This study aims to describe the prevalence of high-risk behaviors among young adolescents in Peninsular Malaysia and determine the relationship between high-risk behaviors and family sociodemographics and behaviors. The data utilized are from the Malaysian Health and Adolescents Longitudinal Research Study, a prospective cohort analysis conducted in three large states of Peninsular Malaysia: Selangor, Perak, and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. The sample included 13-year-old adolescents in their first year of secondary school. Students and parents or guardians were given separate, standardized self-administered questionnaire. A high-risk behavior variable was determined on the basis of exposure to substance use (tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs), gambling, and online pornography or violence. The exploratory variable of interest (family sociodemographics) was defined as parents’ demographics, employment status, education level, and socioeconomic status. The analysis included 1341 adolescents and 1146 parents. Of the school-going adolescents, 4.7 % (n = 52) reported HRBs. Tobacco use (9 %, n = 1 19) and watching pornography or violent content on the Internet (5 %, n = 72) accounted for most of the behaviors, whereas illicit drug use contributed the least (2 %, n = 32). More adolescents from the higher socioeconomic groups, than from the middle groups exhibited high-risk behaviors (odds ratio = 3.039, 95 % confidence interval = 2.884–3.202); by contrast, the odds ratio of high-risk behavior among adolescents with a low socio-economic status was 2.246 (95 % CI = 2.014–2.397). Future intervention programs for adolescents should focus on overcoming high-risk behaviors and sustain behavioral changes.

The roles of selective attention and desensitization in the association between video gameplay and aggression: An ERP investigation

A number of studies have indicated that violent video gameplay is associated with higher levels of aggression and that desensitization and selective attention to violent content may contribute to this association. Utilizing an emotionally-charged rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task, the current study used two event-related potentials (ERPs) – the N1 and P3 – that have been associated with selective attention and desensitization as neurocognitive mechanisms potentially underlying the connection between gameplay and higher levels of aggression. Results indicated that video game players and non-players differed in N1 and P3 activation when engaged with emotionally-charged imagery. Additionally, P3 amplitudes moderated the association between video gameplay and aggression, indicating that players who display small P3 amplitudes also showed heightened levels of aggression. Follow-up moderational analyses revealed that individuals who play games for many hours and show more negative N1 amplitudes show smaller P3 activation. Together, our results suggest that selective attention to violent content and desensitization both play key roles in the association between video gameplay and aggression.

Adverse physiological and psychological effects of screen time on children and adolescents: Literature review and case study

A growing body of literature is associating excessive and addictive use of digital media with physical, psychological, social and neurological adverse consequences. Research is focusing more on mobile devices use, and studies suggest that duration, content, after-dark-use, media type and the number of devices are key components determining screen time effects. Physical health effects: excessive screen time is associated with poor sleep and risk factors for cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure, obesity, low HDL cholesterol, poor stress regulation (high sympathetic arousal and cortisol dysregulation), and Insulin Resistance. Other physical health consequences include impaired vision and reduced bone density. Psychological effects: internalizing and externalizing behavior is related to poor sleep. Depressive symptoms and suicidal are associated to screen time induced poor sleep, digital device night use, and mobile phone dependency. ADHD-related behavior was linked to sleep problems, overall screen time, and violent and fast-paced content which activates dopamine and the reward pathways. Early and prolonged exposure to violent content is also linked to risk for antisocial behavior and decreased prosocial behavior. Psychoneurological effects: addictive screen time use decreases social coping and involves craving behavior which resembles substance dependence behavior. Brain structural changes related to cognitive control and emotional regulation are associated with digital media addictive behavior. A case study of a treatment of an ADHD diagnosed 9-year-old boy suggests screen time induced ADHD-related behavior could be inaccurately diagnosed as ADHD. Screen time reduction is effective in decreasing ADHD-related behavior. ConclusionsComponents crucial for psychophysiological resilience are none-wandering mind (typical of ADHD-related behavior), good social coping and attachment, and good physical health. Excessive digital media use by children and adolescents appears as a major factor which may hamper the formation of sound psychophysiological resilience.

Parents' Knowledge and Beliefs about the Impact of Exposure to Media Violence on Children's Aggression

ABSTRACTThe current study aimed to assess Jordanian parents' knowledge and beliefs about the effects of violent media on children's aggressive behavior. A sample of 262 parents of children aged 6–11 years completed a Media Quotient questionnaire about children's media habits, media effects, and children's aggressive behavior. Parents reported that their children spend an average of 4.83 h (SD = 2.12) watching TV, 3.20 h (SD = 2.29) playing video games, 1.07 h (SD = 0.88) listening to music, and only 0.52 min (SD = 0.67) reading for pleasure per day. Parents have a moderate level of knowledge about the media effect (M = 15.49, SD = 3.439). Children of parents who have adequate knowledge about the media effect, spend less time watching TV (r = −.355, p < .001), playing video games (r = −.265, p < .001), and listening to music (r = −.347, p < .001). Ninety-two percent (n = 241) of parents were concerned about the amount of sexual and of violent content their children see in movies or on TV. Children who spend more time playing video games (r = −.201, p = .004) show aggressive relational behavior. This study suggests that increasing parents' knowledge of media of evidence-based programs may have a protective effect on children's behavior.