Hate Speech And Racism In Sport Media Analytical Study In Sports News In Social Media Net Work

Abstract

This research aims to study the hostile and racist discourse in the sports media content. The research utilizes a case study approach to examine sports media content and its relationship to the discourse of racism, hostility and stadium riots as well as monitoring trends, motives, and justifications for promoting this discourse on social networking platforms.

Racist discourse has become a competitive tool used in sports stadiums, threatening to spread a hostile spirit that extends beyond the sports dimension to new ones related to race, religion, sect, orientation, identity, culture, geographical location and disability for the purpose of harming and offending others as a natural reaction in cases of defeat. In many cases, hateful discourse is spread even before the competition starts.

The data of this study was collected from sources specialized in the immediate reporting of cases of sports racism and hate speech, and reporting cases from social networking platforms, newspapers, and news sites, that dealt with media discourse inciting hatred in the form of commentary or even criticism; the latter having contributed significantly to introducing this discourse, promoting it, and in some cases creating content that is counter to it. The study monitored racist discourse through a quantitative measure based on cases of abuse with a qualitative approach that addresses the form and content of the discourse and the extent to which it violates international conventions that combat racist and hate speech. The study also looked into reactions to racist content provided in media, the Union of European Football Associations’ (UEFA) website, the Federation Internationale de Football Federation (FIFA) website, or the websites of the football club administrations concerned.

The study revealed a real gap between the growth of racist discourse and deterrent measures for this discourse, which indicates the need to pay attention to sports media content and its negative role in spreading hate speech and taking refuge in the spirit of sports competition to escape punishment.