Dehumanising Discourses: Hate Rhetoric in Digital-Political Ecosystems
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24113/smji.v14i3.11710Abstract
The incidence of hate speech in the contemporary digitally mediated environment demands a thorough investigation regarding the mechanisms that initiate and perpetuate such hate ecosystems. This rhetoric, which is also a language of othering, is not an individual act of inappropriate speech but is assisted by mechanisms of discursive dehumanisation, systemic amplification and institutional legitimisation. Drawing upon the frameworks of speech act theory and critical discourse analysis, the paper argues that these three interconnected mechanisms provide the felicity conditions for hate rhetoric to thrive, causing marginalisation and, in many cases, leading to violence. An analysis of the Metei- Kuki violence in Manipur reveals a typical case of the culmination of hate rhetoric targeted at each other through fringe-group labelling, coordinated digital attacks and institutional legitimation, all converging in ethnic violence. The paper highlights the need for a multi-pronged strategy, including counter speech, digital literacy, robust policymaking, implementation, and institutional accountability, to counter such undemocratic language practices.
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