MEDIA AND HATE SPEECH: A DISCURSIVE STUDY OF HATE SPEECH ON NAIRALAND FORUM وسائل الإعلام وخطاب الكراهية: دراسة استطرادية لخطاب الكراهية في منتدى نيرالاند MEDIA AND HATE SPEECH: A DISCURSIVE STUDY OF HATE SPEECH ON NAIRALAND FORUM MEDIA AND HATE SPEECH : A DISCURSIVE STUDY OF HATE SPEECH ON NAIRALAND FORUM MEDIA AND HATE SPEECH: A DISCURSIVE STUDY OF HATE SPEECH ON NAIRALAND FORUM

Digital communication has dominated a major space in our everyday discourses; reflecting how we create, organize, conduct, and express our identities in everyday activities. This study entails the discursive study of hate speech on the Nairaland forum. This study is hinged on Van Dijk's Socio-Cognitive theory (2016) and Ruth Wodak's (2009) Discursive Strategies. The data for this study comprises twenty-eight (28) participants' comments extracted from Nairaland. Findings revealed that commenters of hate discourse on Nairaland used five discursive strategies which include nominalization, predication, argumentation, perspectivization, and intensification to produce their hateful comments on the forum. Strategic devices used include nominals, appositions, relative clauses, pronouns, predicative adjectives, metaphors, giving reasons, questioning, and hyperbole. The study also revealed that ethnic, political party, and religious affinities are the major triggers of hate comments on Nairaland. Thus, the study recommended that technology experts should be engaged to design features, using information derived from language experts to block or filter hate comments on social media platforms. Also, standard laws should be established to curb the menace of hate speech on social media platforms in Nigeria. سيطر التواصل الرقمي على مساحة كبيرة في خطاباتنا اليومية ؛ التفكير في كيفية إنشاء وتنظيم وإجراء والتعبير عن هوياتنا في الأنشطة اليومية. تستلزم هذه الدراسة دراسة استطرادية لخطاب الكراهية في منتدى نيرالاند. تستند هذه الدراسة إلى النظرية الاجتماعية المعرفية لفان دايك (2016) والاستراتيجيات الخطابية لروث ووداك (2009). تتكون بيانات هذه الدراسة من ثمانية وعشرين (28) تعليقًا للمشاركين مستمدة من نايرالاند. كشفت النتائج أن المعلقين على خطاب الكراهية في نيرالاند استخدموا خمس استراتيجيات استطرادية تشمل التسمية، والتنبؤ، والحجج، والتصور، والتكثيف لإنتاج تعليقاتهم البغيضة في المنتدى. تشمل الأجهزة الاستراتيجية المستخدمة الأسماء، والتعبيرات، والجمل النسبية، والضمائر، والصفات المسندة، والاستعارات، وإعطاء الأسباب، والاستجواب، والمبالغة. كما كشفت الدراسة أن الانتماءات العرقية والسياسية والدينية هي المحفزات الرئيسية لتعليقات الكراهية على نايرالاند. وبالتالي، أوصت الدراسة بضرورة إشراك خبراء التكنولوجيا في تصميم الميزات، باستخدام المعلومات المستمدة من خبراء اللغة لمنع أو تصفية تعليقات الكراهية على منصات وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي. لذلك، يجب وضع قوانين قياسية للحد من تهديد خطاب الكراهية على منصات وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي في نيجيريا. Digital communication has dominated a major space in our everyday discourses; reflecting on how we create, organize, conduct, and express our identities in everyday activities. This study entails the discursive study of hate speech on the Nairaland forum. This study is based on Van Dijk's Socio-Cognitive theory (2016) and Ruth Wodak's (2009) Discursive Strategies. The data for this study comprises twenty-eight (28) participants' comments extracted from Nairaland. Findings revealed that commenters of hate discourse on Nairaland used five discursive strategies which include nominalization, predication, argumentation, perspectivization, and intensification to produce their hateful comments on the forum. Strategic devices used include nominals, appositions, relative clauses, pronouns, predicative adjectives, metaphors, giving reasons, questioning, and hyperbole. The study also revealed that ethnic, political party, and religious affinities are the major triggers of hate comments on Nairaland. Thus, the study recommended that technology experts should be engaged to design features, using information derived from language experts to block or filter hate comments on social media platforms. So, standard laws should be established to curb the menace of hate speech on social media platforms in Nigeria. La communication numérique a dominé un espace majeur dans nos discours de tous les jours ; reflétant comment nous créons, organisons, conduisons et exprimons nos identités dans les activités de tous les jours. Cette étude révèle l'étude discursive du discours de haine sur le forum de Nairaland. This study is hinged on Van Dijk' s Socio-Cognitive theory (2016) and Ruth Wodak' s (2009) Discursive Strategies. Les données de cette étude comprennent vingt-huit (28) commentaires des participants extraits de Nairaland. Findings revealed that commenters of hate discourse on Nairaland used five discursive strategies which include nominalization, predication, argumentation, relativization, and intensification to produce their hateful comments on the forum. Les appareils stratégiques ont utilisé des valeurs nominales, des applications, des clauses relatives, des pronostics, des objectifs prédictifs, des métaphores, des raisons de donner, des questions et des hyperbole. The study also revealed that ethnic, political party, and religious affinities are the major triggers of hate comments on Nairaland. Thus, the study recommended that technology experts should be engaged to design features, using information derived from language experts to block or filter hate comments on social media platforms. Donc, les lois standard devraient être établies pour faire face à la menace de discours de haine sur les plateformes de médias sociaux au Nigeria. Digital communication has dominated a major space in our everyday discourses; reflecting how we create, organize, conduct, and express our identities in everyday activities. This study entails the discursive study of hate speech on the Nairaland forum. This study is hinged on Van Dijk 's Socio-Cognitive theory (2016) and Ruth Wodak' s (2009) Discursive Strategies. The data for this study comprises twenty-eight (28) participants' comments extracted from Nairaland. Findings revealed that commenters of hate discourse on Nairaland used five discursive strategies which include nominalization, predication, argumentation, perspectivization, and intensification to produce their hateful comments on the forum. Strategic devices used include nominals, appositions, relative clauses, pronouns, predicative adjectives, metaphors, giving reasons, questioning, and hyperbole. The study also revealed that ethnic, political party, and religious affinities are the major triggers of hate comments on Nairaland. Thus, the study recommended that technology experts should be engaged to design features, using information derived from language experts to block or filter hate comments on social media platforms. Por lo tanto, Standard laws should be established to curb the menace of hate speech on social media platforms in Nigeria.