Topical collection hate speech

Hate speech on the internet and social media has become an increasing focus of media attention in recent years. Online platforms allow far-right actors to bypass traditional gatekeepers of political discourse, such as political parties or mainstream media, and thus spread unfiltered hate speech or far-right narratives that challenge democratic values within a society. In recent years, a growing number of English-language data have been published (e.g. via SOMAR) to allow for the academic study of these phenomena. For German-language research on digital trace data, few quantitative data have been shared or made available for reuse (https://hatespeechdata.com/).

Part of the R|EX scene has recognised the potential of social media and uses communication via influencers (Winter 2020, Rothut 2023) and a network of different platforms (Boyd 2020). Young people in particular, who are in the process of forming their identity and thus their political opinions, can be easily influenced in this way (Gaden 2014).