Understanding Malicious Behaviors on Digital Platforms

The value of digital platforms cannot be ignored; their role is expanding to connecting and facilitating any kind of communication and transaction within society. With their integrated nature, digital platforms remove boundaries in the digital economy and have become the operating system of our lives. Digital platforms are not an option anymore but rather an essential tool and the core of the digital ecosystem. In the meantime, the capability to utilize digital platforms determines not only opportunities but also threats, and accordingly the use of digital platforms has positive and negative consequences. For example, people can take part in open discussions with others in digital news platforms. However, the anonymity and remoteness of digital platforms may allow antisocial behaviors such as the mass production of rumors and public opinion manipulation.

Though the use of digital platforms has both sides of the coin, research on psychological understanding of malicious behaviors on digital platforms are still limited. Previous studies appear to focus mainly on the positive side of the coin. Therefore, the purpose of this Research Topic is to collect and present the state-of-the-art studies on psychological understanding of malicious behaviors on digital platforms. The malicious behaviors may include malicious bots, trolls, cyberbullying, impersonation, deep fakes, spread of misinformation and violence, social engineering attacks, fake News, disinformation/misinformation, hate speech, discrimination, online harassment, perceived threat and so on.

We welcome empirical articles examining the antecedents, processes, and effects of malicious behaviors on digital platforms. We will also cover review papers and case studies on the given topic. Any international comparative study would be preferred.