Hate speech targets in COVID-19 related comments on Ukrainian news websites

[EN] The research focuses on hate speech in the comments section of Ukrainian news websites. Restricted to solely COVID-19 related comments, it seeks to analyze the development of hate speech rates throughout the pandemic. Using a semi-automated machine-learning-aided approach, the paper identifies hate speech in the comments and defines its main targets. The research shows that a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic can strengthen existing negative stereotypes and gives rise to new forms of stigmatization against social and ethnic groups.