Gendered Violence Online: Hate Speech as an Intersection of Misogyny and Racism

Abstract

Social media has been adopted by radical right populists and alt-right demagogues as a platform for circulating misogynous and racist hate speech and affectively mobilising supporters. This chapter examines hate speech as a form of gendered and racist violence, focusing on social media posts by two influential right-wing populist politicians: Jussi Halla-aho, the leader of the Finns Party, and Donald Trump, the president of the United States. It demonstrates how these politicians intertwine misogyny and racism in blog posts and tweets that target women in particular. Their affective online communication is interpreted as a new form of violence. This digitally mediated violence, although a relatively new phenomenon, is an integral part of the chain of violence that links interpersonal violence, violent societal structures and ideological and political violence. Discursive expressions of hatred are spread through social media and shape our understanding of reality. They are not only violent themselves but also pave the way for an ideological readiness to use other types of violence.