Sentiment towards Migration during COVID-19. What Twitter Data Can Tell Us

Abstract

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports of incidents of xenophobia and discrimination against migrants – particularly individuals of Asian descent – have increased worldwide. Yet the lack of accurate and timely data has prevented a large-scale analysis of these developments. This report introduces a novel framework for using Twitter data to measure and monitor shifts in public sentiment towards migrants, complementing traditional data sources.

Francisco Rowe

Professor of Population Data Science

My research interests include human mobility and migration; economic geography and spatial inequality; geographic data science.