INF206 | Module 1 | Social Media and Society Article Review

Social media has become accessible universally and has been forged into a tool that allows diverse communities to interact in ways society could have never predicted. Social media enables communication not only for personal life but for business life. However, as social media has become so deeply intwined in our society, it is inevitable that these tools of communications are to fall into the hands of hateful, racist, and misogynistic groups.

On March 15, 2019, more than fifty people in mosques at Christchurch, New Zealand were killed and livestreamed to the worlds most popular social media Facebook. Six weeks later another person died with three others injured, both terrorist attacks were apart of right-wing extremist attacks that cultivate together on notorious message boards 8chan, 4chan and Reddit. The term right-wing refers to the political, social, and religious movement that represents racism and anti-government extremism. Consequently, social media has become a defining tool for spreading violent messages, Rieger et al., (2021) in her most recent article defines how 8chan, 4chan and Reddit are the home of the most vitriolic content online (Stewart, 2019).

Assessing the Extent and Types of Hate Speech in Fringe Communities: A Case Study of Alt-Right Communities on 8chan, 4chan, and Reddit (2021), describes that using implicit forms of hate speech that seem harmless but imply racism and derogatory comments is a strategy to avoid detection systems (Meibauer, 2013). Like other online communities, the alt-right uses memes, subcultural language, and references to web culture to spread subjective messages similar to common online communities (Hawley et al., 2017).

Whilst I am certain that 8chan and it’s subjectively less violent sibling 4chan are unable to be restored into a safe platform, Reddit stands as a platform for opportunity. Like any type of platform, Reddit stands as a tool for right-wing extremists, it also exists as a tool for communities to share, build, create, and develop exciting new subreddits that foster community development.

Consequently, I believe it’s our duty to become cognisant of implicit hate speech and focus on the wider context and interpretation of malicious comments compared to common insults and slurs. Furthermore, it became evident from the articles study that LBQT communities, people with disabilities and various cultures were the recurrent targets, thus, as a community we should focus on how to protect and ensure the safety of diverse communities. Libraries for example are already doing this across the world. Whilst we are unlikely to see adaptive systems that are cognisant of implicit forms of hate speech, therefore, I am certain that as a community we can develop mindsets that support our communities.

Hawley, G. (2017). Making sense of the alt-right. University Press.

Meibauer, J. (2013). Hate speech from language to politics. 1–16 Gießener Elektronische Bibliothek.

Rieger. D, & Kümpel, S, A., & Wich, M., & Kiening, T, & Groh, G. (2021). Assessing the extent and types of hate speech in fringe communities a case study of alt-right communities on 8chan, 4chan, and Reddit. Social. Media Society.

Stewart, E. (2019). 8chan a nexus of radicalization, explained.
Vox. https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/5/3/18527214/8chanwalmart-el-paso-shooting-cloudflare-white-nationalism