Toxic language of contempt: The real purpose of online hate speech

While discrimination and prejudice are not new phenomena, current political and social crises are exacerbated by the use of language manipulation and hate speech via social media platforms. As we are witnessing a new surge of nationalism that Hannah Arendt once described as an attack on human dignity, it may seem that new technologies are employing new propaganda tools. However, most techniques have been used before: it is just the ease and speed of spreading dishonest and inciteful information and hateful discourse patterns that makes this new surge of hate speech particularly toxic and dangerous.

This paper looks at some features of hate speech from the point of view of its form and function and its linguistic properties. Offended by its aggressive form and content, we may fail to notice that participation in online hate speech (or cyberhate) builds in-group solidarity among the haters, helps them to establish and define their identity and gives them the sense of belonging to some form of community.

If we neglect to understand the mechanisms of hate speech and the discourse of contempt it creates, we may not be able to address the root causes of people’s aggression

towards the others in a society governed by fear, isolation and discrimination against disadvantaged groups. As linguists, we feel that it is our duty to identify and explain the power and the effects of hate speech against displaced people and others worldwide. For the purpose of this study, we use data from public online discourse on refugee and migration policies in Poland but also show that the same patterns are present in the language used elsewhere, e.g. in the United States.