In the fourth workshop of the series, we will focus on the normalisation, acceptability and mainstreaming of online hate speech, with special attention paid to its evolution in the most recent decades, as well as the role that interactive media, especially social media, have played in this process.

 

While normalisation of hate speech in mainstream discourses is by no means a new phenomenon, and its diachronic dimension should not be disregarded, with this discussion we aim to present their contemporary expressions. The normalisation of hatred in public communication is of interest as much as the societal change which it effects, such as the radicalisation in movements and countermovements, the dehumanisation of outgroups, the invisibilisation of suffering, and segregating tendencies through extreme polarisation.

 

What are the current research perspectives, experiences and findings on the normalisation of online hate speech? How can it contribute to radicalisation of discourses in general?