The 2019 UK general election took place against a background of rising online hostility levels toward politicians, and concerns about the impact of this on democracy, as a record number of politicians cited the abuse they had been receiving as a reason for not standing for re-election. We present a four-factor framework in understanding who receives online abuse and why. The four factors are prominence, events, online engagement and personal characteristics. We collected 4.2 million tweets sent to or from election candidates in the six week period spanning from the start of November until shortly after the December 12th election. We found abuse in 4.46% of replies received by candidates, up from 3.27% in the matching period for the 2017 UK general election. Abuse levels have also been climbing month on month throughout 2019. Abuse also escalated throughout the campaign period. Abuse focused mainly on a small number of high profile politicians, with the most prominent individuals receiving not only more abuse by volume, but also as a percentage of replies. Abuse is “spiky”, triggered by external events such as debates, or certain tweets. Some tweets may become viral targets for personal abuse. On average, men received more general and political abuse; women received more sexist abuse. Conservative candidates received more political and general abuse. We find that individuals choosing not to stand for re-election had received more abuse across the preceding year.

中文翻译：

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哪些政客受到虐待？2019年英国大选阐明了四个因素

2019年英国大选是在对政治人物的在线敌对程度不断提高的背景下进行的，并对这一点对民主的影响表示担忧，因为创纪录的政治人物将他们受到的虐待列为不支持重新选举的理由选举。我们提出了一个四因素框架，以了解谁会收到在线滥用行为以及原因。四个因素是突出性，事件，在线参与度和个人特征。从11月初到12月12日选举结束后的六个星期内，我们收集了420万条发给或来自选举候选人的推文。我们发现候选人收到的回覆中有4.46％被滥用，高于2017年英国大选同期的3.27％。在整个2019年，滥用水平也在逐月攀升。在整个运动期间，虐待现象也不断升级。虐待主要集中在少数高知名度的政治人物上，最杰出的个人不仅在数量上受到更多虐待，而且在答复中所占的百分比也更高。滥用是“尖锐的”，是由诸如辩论或某些推文之类的外部事件触发的。一些推文可能成为个人虐待的病毒目标。平均而言，男人遭受了更多的普遍和政治虐待；妇女遭受了更多的性别歧视。保守派候选人遭受了更多的政治和普遍虐待。我们发现，选择不参加连任的个人在上一年受到了更多的虐待。滥用是“尖锐的”，是由诸如辩论或某些推文之类的外部事件触发的。一些推文可能成为个人虐待的病毒目标。平均而言，男人遭受了更多的普遍和政治虐待；妇女遭受了更多的性别歧视。保守派候选人遭受了更多的政治和普遍虐待。我们发现，选择不参加连任的个人在上一年受到了更多的虐待。滥用是“尖刺”，是由诸如辩论或某些推文之类的外部事件触发的。一些推文可能成为个人虐待的病毒目标。平均而言，男人遭受了更多的普遍和政治虐待；妇女遭受了更多的性别歧视。保守派候选人遭受了更多的政治和普遍虐待。我们发现，选择不参加连任的个人在上一年受到了更多的虐待。