Performing hate, contesting power
Facebook hate speech amid Indonesia’s political polarization during and after Covid-19
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22093006 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Asep Suryana (0000-0003-1794-7105, Padjadjaran University, corresponding author), Atwar Bajari (0000-0002-3145-2478, Padjadjaran University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Publication date | 2026-07-03 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Frontiers in Communication (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2297-900X • E-ISSN: 2297-900X |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3389/fcomm.2026.1710794 |
| OpenAlex | W7167253736 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 32 |
This study investigates the dynamics of hate speech in politically polarised Indonesian Facebook communities during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on virtual ethnography and a corpus of 11,504 user comments, this study examines how digital hostility functions not only as interpersonal aggression but also as a ritualised form of symbolic violence. The analysis identifies recurring discursive patterns, including religious slurs, ethnic mockery, and gendered invective, that reflect profound struggles for legitimacy, identity, and a sense of belonging. Drawing on a multidimensional framework encompassing hate speech taxonomy, symbolic violence, and extreme speech, this study interprets hate as a form of political performance and moral signaling. The findings suggest that algorithmic amplification, cultural coding, and affective nationalism combine to sustain online hostility, with implications for the psychosocial well-being of vulnerable communities. This study contributes a culturally grounded and ethically reflexive perspective on digital hate and calls for interdisciplinary responses from human service professionals, educators, and platform designers
Ethnography · Hostility · Interpersonal communication · Nationalism · Politics · Reflexivity · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Islamic Studies and Radicalism
Affective Publics
Exploring Automatic Hate Speech Detection on Social Media
Racism, Hate Speech, and Social Media
Populist Anti-Scientism, Religious Polarisation, and Institutionalised Corruption
Methodological Rigor in Mixed Methods
Defining Hate Speech
Hate speech or free speech
Stigma as a Fundamental Cause of Population Health Inequalities
Doxa and Common Life
Hate Speech and Identity Politics in Germany, 1848–1914
Trajectories of Online Racial Discrimination and Psychological Functioning Among African American and Latino Adolescents
Not So Trifling Nuances
Symbolic Violence and Collective Identity
Beyond Hate Speech and Misinformation
Can There Be an Anthropology of Hate Speech
Third-Person Effect and Hate Speech Censorship on Facebook
Message Received
We are not a virus
| Highly cited | No |
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