The Increasing Frequency of Terms Denoting Political Extremism in U.S. and U.K. News Media

Rozado, David; Kaufmann, Eric P.

doi:10.3390/socsci11040167

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…It could be that this right-wing bias is mainly driven by U.S. users and not those from other countries, given increasingly popular messaging in U.S. right-wing media about free speech issues, cancel culture, and a politics of grievance (see Hochschild 2016; Kidder and Binder 2021; Maratea 2008; Marcus 2021). Increasing polarization on this subreddit also coincides with growing extremism and polarization—as well as a pervasive culture of “victimhood”—across the political spectrum both online and offline (Lerner 2022; Rozado and Kaufmann 2022).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other forums, such as the (now banned) r/The_Donald Subreddit, also have reportedly high rates of hate speech (Gaudette et al 2020; Rieger et al 2021). It is then difficult to know whether Zannettou’s findings simply reflect increasing far-right extremism on the internet over the past decade (Rozado and Kaufmann 2022).…”

Section: Empirical Research On Free Speech: Emerging Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Moral Discourse of Free Speech: A Virtual Ethnographic Study

Goldman-Hasbun

2022

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography

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Freedom of speech has long been considered an essential value in democracies. However, its boundaries concerning hate speech continue to be contested across many social and political spheres, including governments, social media websites, and university campuses. Despite the recent growth of so-called free speech communities online and offline, little empirical research has examined how individuals embedded in these communities make moral sense of free speech and its limits. Examining these perspectives is important for understanding the growing involvement and polarization around this issue. Using a digital ethnographic approach, I address this gap by analyzing discussions in a rapidly growing online forum dedicated to free speech (r/FreeSpeech subreddit). I find that most users on the forum understand free speech in an absolutist sense (i.e., it should be free from legal, institutional, material, and even social censorship or consequences), but that users differ in their arguments and justifications concerning hate speech. Some downplay the harms of hate speech, while others acknowledge its harms but either focus on its epistemic subjectivity or on the moral threats of censorship and authoritarianism. Further, the forum appears to have become more polarized and right-wing-dominated over time, rife with ideological tensions between members and between moderators and members. Overall, this study highlights the variation in free speech discourse within online spaces and calls for further research on free speech that focuses on first-hand perspectives.

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