How to Detect Hate Speech Text in Java

The expansion of online content has caused an uptick in the number of users who engage and interact with each other on the web. While this is generally a positive development, it has also provided a platform for many varieties of hate speech. To clarify, hate speech itself is defined as abusive or threatening speech or writing that expresses prejudice against a particular group. Community forums, social media, and websites have seen a rise in the use of the space for hate crimes or verbal abuse, and while it is important to preserve the right to free speech, it is equally important to provide a safe environment for users. 

Hate speech detection tools have proven useful in reducing the amount of hate speech that appears on your websites or applications; social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have all taken steps to detect and when appropriate remove hate speech from their platforms. In this article, we will discuss how to use a Hate Speech Detection API in Java to scan input text and determine if hate speech language is detected. The API utilizes Natural Language Processing AI to analyze the contextual nuances of the text and extract relevant information that will allow you to identify the majority of hate speech. This tool is currently only available for English input text and will use 1-2 API calls per sentence.

To begin the process, we will first need to install the client with Maven by adding a reference to the repository in pom.xml:

<repositories>

    <repository>

        <id>jitpack.io</id>

        <url>https://jitpack.io</url>

    </repository>

</repositories>

Next, we’ll add a reference to the dependency:

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<dependencies>

<dependency>

    <groupId>com.github.Cloudmersive</groupId>

    <artifactId>Cloudmersive.APIClient.Java</artifactId>

    <version>v3.90</version>

</dependency>

</dependencies>

After the installation is complete, we can move on to adding the imports and calling the hate speech analysis function:

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// Import classes:

//import com.cloudmersive.client.invoker.ApiClient;

//import com.cloudmersive.client.invoker.ApiException;

//import com.cloudmersive.client.invoker.Configuration;

//import com.cloudmersive.client.invoker.auth.*;

//import com.cloudmersive.client.AnalyticsApi;

ApiClient defaultClient = Configuration.getDefaultApiClient();

// Configure API key authorization: Apikey

ApiKeyAuth Apikey = (ApiKeyAuth) defaultClient.getAuthentication("Apikey");

Apikey.setApiKey("YOUR API KEY");

// Uncomment the following line to set a prefix for the API key, e.g. "Token" (defaults to null)

//Apikey.setApiKeyPrefix("Token");

AnalyticsApi apiInstance = new AnalyticsApi();

HateSpeechAnalysisRequest input = new HateSpeechAnalysisRequest(); // HateSpeechAnalysisRequest | Input hate speech analysis request

try {

    HateSpeechAnalysisResponse result = apiInstance.analyticsHateSpeech(input);

    System.out.println(result);

} catch (ApiException e) {

    System.err.println("Exception when calling AnalyticsApi#analyticsHateSpeech");

    e.printStackTrace();

}

To ensure the process works correctly, the following parameters need to be included:

• API Key — to retrieve your personal API key, head to the Cloudmersive website to register for a free account.
• Input Text — input your hate speech analysis request.

With the returned response, you will be able to identify the hate speech score of the input sentence(s) and flag it if needed.

Utilizing these and our other Natural Language Processing APIs, you can ensure that your platforms are a safe space for all users.