Abusing the unprotected ‘poor’: The prevalence of povertyist stigma and hate speech on unmoderated newspaper comment threads

Abstract

The UK-wide Equality Act 2010 forbids discrimination based on age, sex, race, religion/belief, disability, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity – yet no such protections apply to people experiencing poverty and/or class-based inequalities. This legislative ‘blind-spot’ extends to UK media regulation, with most industry ethical codes prioritizing the same ‘protected characteristics’ as the law. As a result, legacy print news outlets and their audiences can freely publish statements about people in poverty that would be defined as hate speech; ruled in breach of ethical codes; and liable for potential prosecution if directed at protected groups. This article explores the prevalence of povertyist hatred on comments published on two conservative-leaning news-sites (www.telegraph.co.uk and www.dailymail.co.uk) in response to articles about rising labour shortages and ‘economic inactivity’ rates during the post-COVID-19 ‘cost-of-living crisis’. It exposes serious gaps in the legal and regulatory framework(s) around protected characteristics, while also posing difficult questions for editors and moderators about the (in)adequacy of their existing policies for safeguarding groups already protected by law.