Dynamics of hate speech in social media: insights from Indonesia
Abstract
Purpose
Social media provides a platform for people to connect, communicate and share their opinions, and has become a powerful gizmo for freedom of expression as well as freedom of speech. The present study intends to examine the role of social media in instigating hateful thoughts, actions among youth and eventually leading them towards hate speech.
Design/methodology/approach
Mixed methods were adopted to achieve the objectives, where survey (quantitative) and focus group discussions (qualitative) were carried out. The students who participated were from different universities, campuses and faith-based schools in Indonesia. They were recruited through online and offline sources where they showed their interest in participating in this study. Participants were 19–30 years old. Data was analysed by deploying the narrations, thematic (based on themes), and univariate analysis.
Findings
In the present research, three attributes of hate speech were investigated, such as form of expression, discrimination and identity factors. The findings of the study show that the prevalence of hate speech among youth in Indonesia is associated with their belongingness to political ideology, identity, nationality and ethnicity.
Social implications
The objective is to examine the prevalence and nature of hate speech among youth in Indonesia, identify the factors and reasons for engaging in hate speech and assess the potential impacts of hate speech.
Originality/value
This research attempts to analyse the role of social media in shaping the mindset of the youth towards hate speech, which ultimately leads to delinquency.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Editor Dr. Amanda Cossham and anonymous reviewers, for their constructive feedback and suggestions to improve this work. We also want to thank all the study participants, students, speakers and the research team for their support in completing this study. Our gratitude also goes to Ketua LPPM Dr. Gadis Meinar Sari and Dr. Irfan Wahyudi, Vice Dean for Research and Internationalisation (FISIP), for their support and motivations. This research is funded under the International Research Collaboration Top #500, Universitas Airlangga Grant No: 170/UN3.15/PT/2022.
Compliance with ethical standard.
Funding: Funding for this research was availed from Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia.
Conflict of interest: The authors declared that there are no conflicts of interest regarding this study.
Ethical approval: This study was conducted by the mutual cooperation of research team, and the questionnaires was approved by the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP), at Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia.
Informed consent: An informed consent was taken before starting the study.
Citation
Margono, H., Saud, M. and Ashfaq, A. (2024), "Dynamics of hate speech in social media: insights from Indonesia", Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-11-2023-0464
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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