LONDRES : Selon une étude, le maire musulman de Londres, Sadiq Khan, et l'ancien Premier ministre, Rishi Sunak, ont été les principales cibles des abus en ligne lors des récentes élections générales au Royaume-Uni.

Les chercheurs de l'université de Sheffield ont constaté que les messages injurieux contenaient des insultes et des attaques racistes.

Khan et Sunak ont reçu le plus d'insultes sur les 14 politiciens suivis dans le cadre de l'étude, a rapporté The Guardian lundi.

Sur ces 14 personnes, les cinq qui ont reçu le plus d'insultes sont Khan, Sunak, l'actuel Premier ministre Keir Starmer, la députée Diane Abbott et l'ancienne ministre de l'intérieur Suella Braverman.

Entre le 1er mai et le 30 juillet, plus de 6 % de toutes les réponses adressées à ces cinq hommes politiques, soit 85 000 messages, étaient manifestement abusives.

Selon les chercheurs, les cinq hommes politiques ont reçu un taux de réponse « extraordinairement rapide », les réponses abusives à leurs messages apparaissant en moyenne une à deux minutes après leur publication.

The study covered a range of abuse, from mild posts accusing the politicians of lying to personal attacks, racist and sexist language.

Researchers highlighted examples of racist abuse sent to Sunak and Khan, including being told to “go back to where they came from.”

The three issues most frequently used to send abusive messages were democracy, foreign affairs, and borders and immigration.

Researchers said: “Our analysis shows very clearly the ways in which people vent their anger at world events, such as the Israel-Hamas war, by lashing out at politicians as a way of finding someone to blame. We saw the same thing during the pandemic and events such as terrorist attacks.

“The sheer number and strength of racist comments toward politicians is terrifying in a supposedly tolerant country like the UK.

“While any politician needs to have a thick skin, those from racial minorities really need a suit of armour to survive the vicious racial attacks from those who do not support their views.”

The volume of abuse recorded by researchers saw a sharp uptick in June as election campaigning was in full swing.

Spikes were recorded in the days leading up to voting day on July 4, as well as following the first televised debate between Sunak and Starmer.

Ce texte est la traduction d’un article paru sur Arabnews.com