HATE SPEECH, DIGITAL LYNCH AND TWITTER

Abstract

Humiliating, rude, and harsh words that signify the other on social media pave the way for the spread of hate speech and digital lynching culture. Twitter, which is the center of public debates especially in the axis of social outrageous events, draws attention as a medium where digital lynching situations are experienced within the framework of hate speech. Hate speech and digital lynching; while harming social sensitivity, dialogue, and empathy, it also creates a social polarization. From this point of view, the subject of this research is the posts on Twitter about Berfin Özek, who married her ex-boyfriend Casim Ozan Çeltik, who threw acid on her face. These posts are analyzed with Critical Discourse Analysis in the context of hate speech and digital lynching. In the study, first of all, the concepts of hate speech and digital lynching are explained. In addition, in this context, it is pointed out that social media has the potential to strengthen the unconscious, impulsive and irritable attitudes of the crowd. The results obtained within the scope of the study reveal that the shared content can create a digital lynching based on cyberbullying and othering at any time and that such forms of expression harm social empathy