Public Discourse and Online Hate Speech: Anti-Indigenous Racism

Lorenzo Cherubini

Brock University, Canada

Hate speech has proliferated across social media platforms, allowing users to target specific groups and spread racist and discriminatory messages to prospective audiences all over the world. The context of online hate speech is consequential for marginalized groups, including the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. This research study therefore addresses the need to investigate more comprehensively the public discourse, as it is posted on the YouTube social media site, corresponding to Indigenous–settler relations. Using a discourse analysis approach, the study discusses anti-Indigenous frames of reference from selected posts that capture discriminatory tones of incredulity and cynicism. When considered from a social constructionist framework as both independent statements and a collection of comments, the posts reflect a sense of moral fatigue on the part of commentators that draw upon exaggerated and misconstrued truths that appeal to already disillusioned viewers.

Article link: https://www.asianinstituteofresearch.org/JSParchives/public-discourse-and-online-hate-speech%3A-anti-indigenous-racism