Press

The Independent - Long Read

Can we solve football’s hate problem? Take a look at the ‘Salah Effect’

When Mo Salah joined Liverpool, Merseyside saw a big fall in the hate-crime rate and a 50 per cent drop in anti-Muslim tweets posted by fans. What can we learn from this, asks Matthew Williams

The Guardian - Feature

Williams, author of a forthcoming book, The Science of Hate, is a professor of criminology at Cardiff University, but his interest in the field is not purely academic…

The Herald - Feature

The Science of Hate is excellent. I can’t recommend it enough. It’s an indispensable guide to what’s gone wrong…throughout much of the Western world. If you want to know why the world is a bear pit read it. Neil Mackay

 

Evening Standard - Review

This fascinating study explores our…capacity to hate and what we can do about it. A harrowing but illuminating work, being released at a time when hate appears to be on the ascendency but far from trying to stop it, some of the world’s most powerful people seem to be using it to manipulate millions…At times it reads more like a thriller. David Marsland

 

The Psychologist - Review

What motivates hate crime and how can it be reduced? These questions cross disciplinary boundaries in the social sciences, from criminology to sociology and psychology. So, too, does The Science of Hate, expertly weaving together perspectives from different disciplines, to explore these questions.

ITV News

On the potential impact of the Premier League boycott of social media because of online hate: “I’ve been working in this area for 20 years, ten of those years heavily involved in social media, and to date I’ve seen nothing quite as coordinated as this…it could beginning of a movement“

Sky Sports News

Football fans should use the same energy they displayed in protesting the proposed European Super League and channel that into condemning racism and social media abuse in all its forms, according to a university academic.

Singapore Straits Times - Top 10 books in March 2021

Are human brains hard-wired to hate? Criminology professor Williams uses biology, neuroscience and psychology to demonstrate how conditions for hateful behaviour are created and amplified by new technology.

Daily Record

New book shows Liverpool’s signing of Muslim forward had positive impact on perceptions of Islam amongst fans. ‘Could the Salah effect’ be the key to ending Old Firm hate?

Sky News

Euro 2020: Why is it so difficult to track down racist trolls and remove hateful messages on social media? Ensuring that hateful content is removed from platforms presents its own unique challenges, according to Professor Matthew Williams, author of The Science of Hate

GIZMODO

What’s the Most Significant Hack in History? Matthew Williams, author of The Science of Hate says the creation of the fake MartinLutherKing.org website by the white supremacist Don Black is one of the most insidious ‘hacks’ in history.

TV

Sky Sports News - The Science of Hate in Football

Rai3 (Italy) Presa Diretta ‘Le Strade Dell’Odio’ (The Streets of Hate)

Radio

Podcasts

Online Content

Is Hate on the Rise?

Why is there So Much Hate on Social Media?