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Article published In: Hate speech: Definitions, interpretations and practices
Edited by Fabienne H. Baider, Sharon Millar and Stavros Assimakopoulos
[Pragmatics and Society 11:2] 2020
► pp. 196–217

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Pragmatics lost?

Overview, synthesis and proposition in defining online hate speech

 | University of Cyprus
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 13 July 2020
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.20004.bai
Abstract
This article argues for a definition of online hate speech as a contextualised speech act that is part of a social process of alienation. It suggests that hate speech comes in degrees, is contextual, involves already existing power dynamics, and ‘others’ its targets by creating in/out groups. I first review the various stances towards understanding the phenomenon of online hate speech, including approaches that focus on online hate speech as an interaction shaped by its medium, while also emphasizing the need to consider the role of implicatures in speech acts when defining hate speech. Second, I argue that the relationality of online speech implies that any message is embedded in idiosyncratic socio-cultural norms, and that therefore a ‘one size fits all’ definition of hate speech is elusive. I conclude by suggesting that contextualized hate speech is embedded in a social process of alienation and should be understood as a continuum.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Defining online hate speech
    • 2.1The role of the medium in online hate speech
    • 2.2Defining online hate speech with a focus on the lexicon
    • 2.3Defining hate speech by the illocutionary force of the message
  • 3.Contextualising hate speech
    • 3.1Evaluating hate speech by the implicatures of the message
    • 3.2Conversational and community norms defining hate speech
    • 3.3Integrating the relational dimension in the assessment of hate speech
  • 4.Defining and understanding hate speech as a domination process
    • 4.1Hate speech as engraining power relationships
    • 4.2Protected characteristics and hate speech
    • 4.3Hate speech as a social act in the alienation process
  • 5.Conclusion: Preventing hate speech
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (76)
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