Did T**** Cause a Sudden Increase in #chinesevirus Hashtag?
The paper must have been under review and in production for quote some time. It's quite the coincidence that its publication coincided with the shootings of multiple Asians.
The implication is that T****'s rhetoric contributed to a recent surge in anti-Asian racism. To be perfectly clear, I think he is a racist and that his rhetoric no doubt is a contributor. But we have to be careful not to over-interpret the results.
The study compared tweets containing the neutral hashtag #covid19 to those containing the racist hashtag #chinesevirus. Comparing the week before T****'s March 16 tweet to the week after, they found a large increase in the number of tweets with the latter compared to the former, and also an increase in other anti-Asian hashtags (#yellowmanfever, #chinkflu, etc.).
One thing to remember is that this is the beginning of the lockdown. So it's about this time when people are beginning to feel personal impacts and would be looking for someone to blame.
In other words, the study could just be detecting a trend that was already starting. It's entirely possible that T**** had some research showing this and deliberately chose to fan the flames. Because that's the kind of guy he is.
In support of this idea, March 16 was not the first time he had used anti-Chinese rhetoric related to the virus. Last week the Late Show played clips of him using similar rhetoric on January 12, January 19, and February 28 of 2020. Why didn't those remarks set off a flood of anti-Asian hashtags?
When you're dealing with complex systems it's very hard to pin an effect on one event like this. There are just so many other possible causes you might not be aware of.
That said, there can be no doubt that T**** pushed this anti-Asian theme. In April he pivoted from "Chinese virus" to "China virus." Factbase lists 365 uses of that phrase between then and the merciful end of his presidency.
Image by Tanja-Denise Schantz from Pixabay
