Academy of Sciences puts hate speech on social media in the spotlight

Hate speech on social media and the ways it appears and becomes normalized in digital communication were the focus of a lecture held today at the Academy of Sciences of Albania.

The lecture, titled “Discourse Analysis. Hate Speech on Social Media”, was delivered by researcher Dr. Rafaela Marteta and organized by the Institute of Linguistics and Literature, the Department of Lexicology, Terminology and Applied Linguistics.

In her presentation, Marteta analyzed the presence of hostile discourse, particularly in the comment sections of social media with a political focus. For her analysis she drew on R. Entman’s framing paradigm, intertwined with the critical discourse analysis approaches of Ruth Wodak and Teun van Dijk.

According to the study, hate speech in digital spaces is linked to social, cultural and ideological contexts, while online communication can create forms of legitimization and normalization of hostile discourse.

In the opening remarks, Prof. Dr. Tomorr Plangarica praised the treatment of this issue as important for Albanian language studies, stressing the need for new approaches to communication in digital spaces.

Marteta also argued for the need for a context-sensitive analysis, aimed at understanding the mechanisms that produce and legitimize hate speech, as well as designing more effective preventive and intervention initiatives.

The event was attended by researchers, lecturers and students, who discussed the challenges of political communication on social media and the influence of language in shaping collective perceptions.