Using expert interviews and focus groups, this book investigates the theoretical and practical intersection of misinformation and social media hate in contemporary societies.
Social Media and Hate argues that these phenomena, and the extreme violence and discrimination they initiate against targeted groups, are connected to the socio-political contexts, values and behaviours of users of social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, ShareChat, Instagram and WhatsApp. The argument moves from a theoretical discussion of the practices and consequences of sectarian hatred, through a methodological evaluation of quantitative and qualitative studies on this topic, to four qualitative case studies of social media hate, and its effects on groups, individuals and wider politics in India, Brazil, Myanmar and the UK. The technical, ideological and networked similarities and connections between social media hate against people of African and Asian descent, indigenous communities, Muslims, Dalits, dissenters, feminists, LGBTQIA communities, Rohingya and immigrants across the four contexts is highlighted, stressing the need for an equally systematic political response.
This is an insightful text for scholars and academics in the fields of Cultural Studies, Community Psychology, Education, Journalism, Media and Communication Studies, Political Science, Social Anthropology, Social Psychology, and Sociology.
1 Introduction
2 When hate speech policies and procedures fail: the case of the Rohingya in Myanmar
3 Colonisation, violent ‘othering’ and contemporary online hate in Brazil
4 Social media, violence and hierarchies of hate in India
5 White male rage online: Intersectional genealogies of social media hate in the UK
6 Conclusion
Biography
Shakuntala Banaji is Professor of Media, Culture and Social Change in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Ramnath Bhat is postdoctoral fellow at the International Centre for Advanced Studies in New Delhi and visiting fellow in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
"Banaji and Bhat’s Social Media and Hate is a timely and insightful exploration of the intersection of misinformation and social media hate in contemporary societies. Overall, the book is a comprehensive and thought-provoking analysis of the complex relationship between social media and hate speech and will be of interest to scholars, policymakers and activists alike."
- Deshdeep Dhankhar, Policy Fellow at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, LSE Review of Books
