Abstract

This research examines the platformization of organizational discriminatory and counter-discriminatory speech — defined as the technological affordances and economic imperatives of digital media platforms manoeuvre the production and circulation of both types of speech from civil society organizations (CSOs). CSOs have utilized social media in spreading online discriminatory speech against racial minorities, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic. The preliminary findings of our pilot study in SICSS -Montréal 2021 demonstrates surging volumes and engagement of both the discriminatory and counter-discriminatory speech from CSOs on Facebook between 2019 and 2021. However, few studies in hate speech investigate to what extent that CSOs also challenge discriminatory speech, and how the two types of speech change over time in countries with varying attitudes towards racial minorities. Previous studies are also limited to understanding how social media platforms have shaped the manufacturing and amplification of both speech. By analyzing messages from mainstream American and Canadian CSOs on Facebook and Twitter, our study will (1) Investigate the production of discriminatory and counter-discriminatory discourses by CSOs on social media; (2) Examine the circulation of such discourses integrating computational methods and qualitative analysis. Findings will suggest potential consequences and policy implications to the platformization of the organizational (counter-)discriminatory speech.

Principal Investigators