Social Media Extremism: An Analysis of Hate Speech and Partisanship and Its Consequences
One of the most common tropes in American history is the overly political family member that seems to always fall into the trap of political misinformation, and no matter how much compelling evidence opposing the claim is presented, they never change their mind on the situation. For instance, many people once fell for the classic “President/government official shaking hands with [insert controversial individual]” scheme, which highlights how many gullible individuals would succumb to a doctored photo without doing any research. But how do these images travel so far across the internet without most people analyzing the content at hand? While there are numerous ways an individual can answer this question, one of the most important variables is political extremism. While the photo is doctored, and everyone is allowed to slip up and avoid spending an excessive amount of time just researching one or two photos, at what point does innocence and ignorance line up with the desire to willingly believe what comes into one’s line of sight? In terms of the mobilization of disinformation, modern political media spreads through newspapers, cable television, hearsay, and, most importantly, social media. Websites like Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook have conditioned the masses to share their opinions with the world, opening a market of ever-flowing ideas. Anyone from anywhere in the world can freely post their ideas, thoughts, and opinions onto the vast web, and consume whatever content they wish, giving users a choice on who to strictly listen to, without being forced to meet political or social rivalry. This is the breeding ground for extremism on social media, a phenomenon that has put millions at risk of being lied to all for the sake of politics.
But for extremism to occur, one must be inserted into an environment in which the conditions of extremism can spawn in and take control of a social media’s population. While there are numerous factors that could affect a social media’s environment, there are a few that play a significant role in spawning political extremism. One of the most common factors noted for political extremism on social media is the rise of users on the internet and, more specifically, social media platforms in the past few years. In fact, this exact reason is mentioned in a few studies that have been conducted around the world. For instance, in a Malaysian study focusing on the Malaysian youth and their involvement and consumption of social media, researchers discovered that the first noticeable variable in the rise of political extremism is the rise of Malaysians using the internet and social media (Ismail et al. 6). According to this study, Malaysia is number one in terms of social media penetration in Southeast Asia, with 84% of their population actively using social media, and the average user spending 3 hours online daily (Ismail et al. 6). In other words, the social media landscape is being introduced to numerous countries and territories around the world in which modern communications such as social media and strong internet signals were once not present. This rise in individuals has led to an increased chance of extremists from technologically developing nations taking advantage of the worldwide platform, creating the risk of abusing technology to push a political agenda. Furthermore, the same study found a connection between extremist activity online and the coronavirus pandemic. The study states, “COVID-19 pandemic has not only demonstrated fear of increased usage of social media by violent extremist groups, but it has also been used as a platform to justify violence” (Ismail et al. 8).
The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020 and 2021 was massive, and one of the indirect consequences of a time of mass isolation is the rise in hate speech online. However, hate speech, another contributing factor to political extremism on social media, has been an issue long before the Coronavirus pandemic. According to Tamara Fuchs and Fabian Schäfer, researchers and authors for “Normalizing misogyny: hate speech and verbal abuse of female politicians on Japanese Twitter,” hate speech, especially towards women, has been an issue prior to the Coronavirus pandemic. In fact, researchers have found large numbers of misogynistic posts on Japan’s social medias, such as 2Chan/Futaba Channel (Japanese 4Chan predecessor), Twitter, and Facebook (Fuchs and Schäfer 556-557). For instance, one researcher mentioned in the article analyzed the Twitter hashtag, “#mencallmethings” back in 2014, and found that, when faced with hate comments, women were more likely to be the target for “highly gendered language” (Fuchs and Schäfer 554-555). In this study, “highly gendered language” is a set of words that attack an individual based on their gender identity, so obscenities that are typically used for both males and females do not fit into this category of words. For example, the term, “asshole,” which could be used to criticize either males or females, would not fit in as gendered language since there is no direct attack on the individual’s gender identity or sexual orientation. But using the terms “woman” or “female” in a negative connotation would be considered gendered language since the terms in question are being used in a context in which the individual’s identity is stripped down to the gender or the biological sex.
This normalization of misogynistic language on the Internet has also led to the rise of extremism online, leading many to mix their own gender stereotypes into their political beliefs. In addition to misogyny, religion and national identity also play a large factor in spawning social media extremism. In countries such as Cyprus, where Eastern Orthodox ideas are popular amongst their populations, gender roles are a reinforced concept throughout their societies. Take, for example, the rise of gender roles in Cyprus’ society, which are commonly expressed on social media. In a study completed in Cyprus, researchers claim, “Specifically, the ideology of nationalism promotes a clear asymmetry between men and women in relation to the nation. Men occupy a superordinate, hegemonic position (Nagel, 1998), representing the real actors and gate keepers of the nation…” (Kadainaki et al. 232). In other words, Cyprus’ cultural values that have a chokehold on the nation’s societal expectation of males has led to a set of values that are very discriminatory towards those who do not follow such expectations.
This had led to mass scrutiny towards proponents of incorporating pro-LGBT laws in Cyprus, with the researchers stating, “Specifically, we show that homonationalism [pro-state including LGBT rights] (e.g., Puar, 2007) does not prevail in this context, and LGBT+ rights are constructed not only as threatening national survival but also as resources used to sustain one nationalism versus another” (Kadainaki et al. 232). While one could argue that this is simply a cultural problem specifically towards the Balkans and Middle East, it is important to recognize that social media is the world stage for the free exchange of ideas. Furthermore, the spread of these ideas is not stopping either. In a study from Turkey, researchers Ozge Ozduzen and Umut Korkut noted:
We argue that the online reactions to the event also owe back to the recent rise of anti-gender movements on a global scale (Köttig, Bitzan and Petõ,2017), which is not exclusive to Turkey or Turkishness. Since 2012, several European countries such as Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary or Poland have seen the rise of conservative and partly fundamentalist social movements against the perceived threat of what they call ‘gender ideology’, which are frequently understood as conservative backlash against the achieved levels of equality between women and men and/or LGBTI+ rights in the context of the rise of populist right (Kováts, 2018, p. 530). (Ozduzen and Korkut 495)
While many think of physical terrorism (which is an entirely different issue) and groups such as ISIS when they hear the term, “extremism,” this idea of simply rejecting the future of mankind could lead to an all-out culture war between the western and eastern hemispheres. While this has not occurred yet, remember these attitudes are already spreading like wildfire across social media platforms, and there seems to be no end in sight.
Next, after a deep analysis of what conditions lead to the rise of extremism on social media, what can be done to stop the spread of such behaviors? One solution is to curve bias on social media, which can be done in numerous ways. One of the largest reasons why people fall for biases on social media is due to biased language being abused by accounts. In a study conducted about social media in Spain, researchers found that, “…words with negative connotations predominate throughout the digital debate, finding a greater presence in messages that talk about… politics in the discourse of ‘bots’ (0.687%) and politics in ‘non-bots’ (0.672)” (Robles 67). There are many approaches that can be taken to curb the use of negatively-connotated language online. A more authoritative approach would be for social media companies to implement stricter rules on communication to avoid bias. This, however, would lead people to leave social media platforms due to unnecessary censorship of opinions, especially in the United States where free speech is a staple of their democratic practices. Another approach would be for social media companies to implement an algorithm that demotes posts that use heavily biased language, promoting the use of positive or neutral language when discussing politics.
While this idea seems great in a theoretical sense, this algorithm would cause content that does not fall under politics to be marked by a similar standard, which could be problematic for those wanting to post content that is not of a political nature. For example, LGBT is a common topic discussed within politics. While there are many instances in which LGBT-related legislature is discussed, those who may wish to talk about the matter in a non-political sense may accidentally be grouped into the algorithm due to identity politics being so prevalent amongst social media users. The idea of such an algorithm is not a terrible idea, but simply needs to be complex in nature to avoid silencing posts and users that are posting non-political content in with users who are posting political content. Regardless, regulating partisan behaviors amongst both bots and non-bots is crucial if social media platforms wish to avoid spawning political extremism on their websites.
One consideration that must be made when it comes to solving political extremism on social media is to not completely silence the people using the platform. While some of the algorithms put in place now help in avoiding conflict on social media, such as Twitter censoring tweets that contain slurs and excessive cursing, adding too much censorship may stop users from participating in democratic practices. A perfect example of such is the use of South Korean social media being used to dictate their government’s actions. In a study from the Kyung Hee University of Seoul, South Korea, researchers stated, “Proponents of participatory democracy advocate the direct involvement of citizens in the decision-making process and point to improved political representation as compared to representative democracy” (Yun and Min 2069). Rather than altering the form of government in South Korea to a direct democracy, where every citizen is required to vote on changes made by the government, participatory democracy on a virtual platform such as social media promotes the basic principles of a direct democracy without enforcing every South Korean citizen to vote on an issue. This takes away the problem of ensuring that everyone votes on a cause by giving citizens an option to communicate amongst themselves to find a general solution while keeping a representative democracy.
While other democratic countries have used social media platforms in a similar manner, South Koreans have been able to directly insert themselves into the law-making process due to the close connection between the Korean government and its people online, giving citizens the ability to focus on the issues they want their government to solve. This also allows citizens to congregate and protest on their own accord. Later in the study, researchers note, “…digitally networked individuals, despite these networks being based on weak ties or springing from fragmented organisations, initiated and led the protests” (Yun and Min 2075). This allows for protests to be discussed amongst a wider audience rather than a small group of people that know each other only through non-online connections, which is promoted in democratic societies.
Overall, political extremism on social media is a massive issue, and the rise of polarization has exponentially grown over the past few years. Due to the increase access to social media platforms across the world, daily social media usage, polarization of gender and national identities, and the use of negatively connotative words on social media platforms, hate speech is reaching an all-time high on social media platforms. As social media platforms start to age, companies should start to move towards an era of recognizing the social impact that their platforms have on citizens across the world, and how hate speech is raising a generation of pro-violence and partisanship internationally. As a result, social media platforms should implement a set of algorithms that focus on eradicating the use of violent language on their platform without straying too far from their significant role of promoting civil discussions. If done properly, social media could play a crucial role in the future of the international political climate.
Works Cited:
Fuchs, Tamara, and Fabian Schäfer. “Normalizing Misogyny: Hate Speech and Verbal Abuse of Female Politicians on Japanese Twitter.” Japan Forum, vol. 33, no. 4, Dec. 2021, pp. 553–79. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/09555803.2019.1687564.
Ismail, Nurzali, et al. “Understanding Malaysian Youth’s Social Media Practices and Their Attitude towards Violent Extremism.” Intellectual Discourse, vol. 30, no. 1, Jan. 2022, pp. 5–33. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=a9h&AN=158681345&site=ehost-live.
Kadianaki, Irini, et al. “Waved and Unwaved Flags: Nation and Sexuality in a Social Media Debate in Cyprus.” Nations & Nationalism, vol. 28, no. 1, Jan. 2022, pp. 231–46. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12704.
Ozduzen, Ozge, and Umut Korkut. “Enmeshing the Mundane and the Political: Twitter, LGBTI+ Outing and Macro-Political Polarisation in Turkey.” Contemporary Politics, vol. 26, no. 5, Dec. 2020, pp. 493–511. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/13569775.2020.1759883.
Robles, José-Manuel, et al. “When Negativity Is the Fuel. Bots and Political Polarization in the COVID-19 Debate.” Comunicar, vol. 30, no. 71, Apr. 2022, pp. 59–71. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.3916/C71-2022-05.
Yun, Seongyi, and Hee Min. “Does Social Media Promote Participatory Democracy? Evidence from South Korea’s Presidential Impeachment Protests?” Third World Quarterly, vol. 41, no. 12, Dec. 2020, pp. 2067–86. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2020.1806708.
Photo by the Anti-Defamation League