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We study the causal effect of social media on ethnic hate crimes and xenophobic attitudes in Russia and the mechanisms underlying this effect, using quasi-exogenous variation in social media
penetration across cities. Higher penetration of social media led to more hate crimes in cities with
a high pre-existing level of nationalist sentiment. Consistent with a mechanism of coordination
of crimes, the effects are stronger for crimes with multiple perpetrators. Using a national survey
experiment, we also find evidence of a mechanism of persuasion: social media led individuals
(especially young, male, and less-educated ones) to hold more xenophobic attitudes.
Written with Leonardo Bursztyn (Chicago), Georgy Egorov (Northwestern), and Ruben Enikolopov( NES, UPF, IPEF, BGSE)
