Digital hostility, subjectivity and ethics

Theorising the disruption of identity in instances of mass online abuse and hate speech

Bibliographic Data

ID21689883
AuthorsR Cover (0000-0002-8815-2126, RMIT University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume29
Issue2
Pages308-321
Publication date2023-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueConvergence The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1354-8565 • E-ISSN: 1748-7382
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/13548565221122908
OpenAlexW4297900597
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited43

The experience of hostility, hate speech and adversarial behaviour in everyday online spaces has increased substantially in recent years, with known health and mental health outcomes for users. This paper argues that due to the ‘massified’ form of contemporary hostility experienced in the internet ‘pile on’, a new framework for understanding and remedying hostility is required. This paper draws on Judith Butler’s theories of identity to present an account of digital hostility as cultural and as having a negative effect on the identities and selfhood of users. It discusses the impact of the online pile-on, shaming and the ways in which hostility positions victims as ungrievable subjects. The essay recommends new ethical approaches grounded in the recognition of subjects as vulnerable, arguing that cultural ethics approaches are valuable not only as public pedagogies but for development of technological solutions and moderation interventions to help prevent hostility and hate speech

Aesthetics · Epistemology · Hostility · Political science · Politics · Proscription · Sociology · Subjectivity · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Law · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology

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