[3E5-OS-11b] OS-11

[3E5-OS-11b-03] Gender-Based Analysis of Online Harassment against Japanese Diet Members

〇Hirofumi Miwa¹, Akira Nakada², Yoshinobu Kano² (1. Gakushuin University, 2. Shizuoka University)

Keywords:political science, political communication, gender, X (Twitter)

This study examines online harassment against Diet members in Japan, with a particular focus on gender-based differences. We collected replies, mentions, and quote posts on Twitter directed at members of the lower and upper houses from the period following the 2022 upper house election to February 2023. Using machine learning models trained on human-labeled data, we classified these posts as abusive or non-abusive. Additionally, we assessed the sentiment (positivity or negativity) of legislators' posts through semi-supervised learning. Our analysis of gender differences in the likelihood of receiving abusive language revealed that posts directed at female lower house members with fewer terms in office were more likely to be abusive than those directed at their male counterparts. Furthermore, while negative posts by legislators were generally more likely to attract abusive responses, this tendency was more pronounced for female lower house members compared to males. However, these patterns were not observed for members of the upper house. These findings provide valuable insights into the issue of women's underrepresentation in Japanese politics and contribute to the broader literature on gender stereotypes.