Aotearoa New Zealand Hate Map Report
New Zealand Hate Map
The Khalifa Ihler Institute with the support of Internet NZ and Glitterpill LLC are proud to announce the release of the Aotearoa New Zealand Hate Map Report.
The report highlights the impact events and incidents driven by hate, and hate speech have on marginalized communities. It sheds light on the urgent need for awareness, education, and dialogue to combat this growing issue.
The report highlights the evolution of several key conspiracist and white supremacist talking points, which increasingly have been adopted by anti-vaccination groups and right-wing parties as they pivot to new issues in the run-up to the 14 October 2023 general election in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Key Findings of the Report:
Hate speech and hate crimes pose significant threats to society that are broader than the negative impact on individuals; these related phenomena threaten social cohesion and democratic values to the whole of society, not just the victimized groups.
We developed a comprehensive graph database capturing the nuances of hate-related incidents both online and offline by connecting events, people, groups, and issues. Data collection focused on more recent events but also included important historical incidents to contextualize recent history. The aim is to leverage past data insights to predict and counteract future threats.
The database included a total of 584 events spanning from 1985-2023 with a particular focus on years following the pivotal 2019 Christchurch Massacre that had a significant influence on society, culture, politics, and social movements. From 2019-2023, the database recorded 507 events.
Geographical data revealed that events were widespread, encompassing 83 different cities.
The political atmosphere is polarized, and there's been a rise in attacks targeting Māori and the Rainbow Community, with roots in conspiracy theories and white supremacist beliefs.
Two major classifications emerged at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic: Public Health and Conspiracies. These were particularly associated with events protesting lockdowns, mask mandates, and similar health guidelines. There was a noticeable absence of events related to public health prior to 2020. These events, however, peaked in 2022 and had nearly vanished by 2023.
The data collected and report is authored by a wahine Māori analyst/researcher, descended from Waikato Tainui (Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Wairere) who, in relation to the current context, feels the need to remain anonymous, due to their understanding that through their relationships and the data, there is a very real threat to people researching the far-right, especially wāhine Māori, publishing under their own names.
Our ongoing work on the Hate Map for Aotearoa New Zealand makes behaviors and history where hatred and violence are repeatedly incited visible and identifies who the most frequent offenders are. By learning from the past, we can better predict risks in the future and can use analysis to help identify hot spots to dedicate resources.
The Khalifa Ihler Institute,
With kind support from
InternetNZ and Glitterpill
The full report is available to download here.
