Context-Aware Detection and Victim-Centered Response Generation for Online Harassment in Private Messaging

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Lu, Pinxian, Ishfaq, Nimra, Win, Emma, Rose, Morgan, Strickland, Sierra R, Biernesser, Candice L, Zelazny, Jamie, De Choudhury, Munmun
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866917508656660480
author Lu, Pinxian
Ishfaq, Nimra
Win, Emma
Rose, Morgan
Strickland, Sierra R
Biernesser, Candice L
Zelazny, Jamie
De Choudhury, Munmun
author_facet Lu, Pinxian
Ishfaq, Nimra
Win, Emma
Rose, Morgan
Strickland, Sierra R
Biernesser, Candice L
Zelazny, Jamie
De Choudhury, Munmun
contents Online harassment is a widespread social and public health concern, yet most computational approaches for detecting and addressing harassment focus on publicly visible social media content rather than private messaging environments. Private conversations present unique challenges because harmful interactions often unfold through context-dependent, multi-turn exchanges, while victims may lack timely support during moments of harassment. In this study, we investigate how large language models (LLMs) can support both the detection of and response to online harassment in private messaging. Using a dataset of 80,053 Instagram direct messages donated by 26 adolescents aged 12-18, including youth with suicide risk factors, we first construct a human-labeled dataset of online harassment in private conversations and develop a context-aware cascading LLM classification pipeline. The proposed pipeline outperforms baseline toxicity classifiers trained primarily on public social media data. We then develop a victim-centered response framework that produces context-sensitive and psychologically-grounded AI-generated responses to online harassment messages. Human evaluators perceived the AI-generated responses as significantly more helpful than the original participant responses (95% CI: 0.767--0.815, p < .001), particularly in terms of emotional support and de-escalation. Our findings highlight the potential of context-aware and victim-centered AI systems to provide just-in-time support during harassment in private messaging environments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_14700
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Context-Aware Detection and Victim-Centered Response Generation for Online Harassment in Private Messaging
Lu, Pinxian
Ishfaq, Nimra
Win, Emma
Rose, Morgan
Strickland, Sierra R
Biernesser, Candice L
Zelazny, Jamie
De Choudhury, Munmun
Social and Information Networks
Computation and Language
Computers and Society
68T42
Online harassment is a widespread social and public health concern, yet most computational approaches for detecting and addressing harassment focus on publicly visible social media content rather than private messaging environments. Private conversations present unique challenges because harmful interactions often unfold through context-dependent, multi-turn exchanges, while victims may lack timely support during moments of harassment. In this study, we investigate how large language models (LLMs) can support both the detection of and response to online harassment in private messaging. Using a dataset of 80,053 Instagram direct messages donated by 26 adolescents aged 12-18, including youth with suicide risk factors, we first construct a human-labeled dataset of online harassment in private conversations and develop a context-aware cascading LLM classification pipeline. The proposed pipeline outperforms baseline toxicity classifiers trained primarily on public social media data. We then develop a victim-centered response framework that produces context-sensitive and psychologically-grounded AI-generated responses to online harassment messages. Human evaluators perceived the AI-generated responses as significantly more helpful than the original participant responses (95% CI: 0.767--0.815, p < .001), particularly in terms of emotional support and de-escalation. Our findings highlight the potential of context-aware and victim-centered AI systems to provide just-in-time support during harassment in private messaging environments.
title Context-Aware Detection and Victim-Centered Response Generation for Online Harassment in Private Messaging
topic Social and Information Networks
Computation and Language
Computers and Society
68T42
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.14700