Extreme Speech Online: An Anthropological Critique of Hate Speech Debates

Main author: Pohjonen, Matti
Other authors: Udupa, Sahana
Format: Journal Article           
Online access: Click here to view record


id eprints-30566
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
topic GN Anthropology
description 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.
format Journal Article
author Pohjonen, Matti
author_facet Pohjonen, Matti
Udupa, Sahana
authorStr Pohjonen, Matti
author_letter Pohjonen, Matti
author2 Udupa, Sahana
author2Str Udupa, Sahana
title Extreme Speech Online: An Anthropological Critique of Hate Speech Debates
publisher USC Annenberg, School for Communication and Journalism
publishDate 2017
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/30566/