Extreme Speech Online: An Anthropological Critique of Hate Speech Debates

Pohjonen, Matti; Udupa, Sahana

Abstract

Exploring the cases of India and Ethiopia, this article develops the concept of “extreme speech” to critically analyze the cultures of vitriolic exchange on Internet-enabled media. While online abuse is largely understood as “hate speech,” we make two interventions to problematize the presuppositions of this widely invoked concept. First, extreme speech emphasizes the need to contextualize online debate with an attention to user practices and particular histories of speech cultures. Second, related to context, is the ambiguity of online vitriol, which defies a simple antonymous conception of hate speech versus acceptable speech. The article advances this analysis using the approach of “comparative practice,” which, we suggest, complicates the discourse of Internet “risk” increasingly invoked to legitimate online speech restrictions.

Citation

Pohjonen, M., & Udupa, S. (2017). Extreme Speech Online: An Anthropological Critique of Hate Speech Debates. International Journal of Communication, 11, 1173-1191

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 31, 2017
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Mar 29, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 29, 2019
• Journal: International Journal of Communication
• Electronic ISSN: 1932-8036
• Publisher: University of Southern California
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Pages: 1173-1191
• Keywords: online abuse, hate speech, India, Ethiopia, comparative practice, Internet risk
• Publisher URL: https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/5843