Affiliation:
1. University of Antwerp Department of Communication Studies Antwerp Belgium
Abstract
Abstract
This study investigates virtual community-building practices and discriminatory views in PAL NWS, a Dutch-speaking Belgian far-right alternative news medium, by examining discussions in the comments sections. Thematic analysis was applied to a total of 1,127 comments by 343 users in response to 50 articles about LGBTI topics. The findings show that far-right alternative news sites can function as virtual communities that facilitate polarization. The comments exhibited a high level of hostility towards LGBTI individuals, particularly toward transgender people and public displays of LGBTI inclusion. Furthermore, Muslims were homogeneously perceived as homophobes, and LGBTI topics were understood as (woke) ideological suppression by a dogmatic minority. The results of this study have implications for understanding the dynamics of comments sections on alternative media and the potential for far-right news platforms to facilitate the spread of intolerance.
Reference60 articles.
1. Abbeloos, J.-F. (2023, 25 February). Woke dreigt de samenleving aan de rand van een burger-oorlog te brengen, op z’n Amerikaans [Woke threatens to bring society to the brink of civil war, American-style]. De Standaard. https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20230303_97896145
2. Baider, F. (2018). “Go to hell fucking faggots, may you die!” Framing the LGBT subject in online comments. Lodz Papers in Pragmatics, 14(1), 69–92.
3. Bowman-Grieve, L. (2009). Exploring “Stormfront”: A virtual community of the radical right. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 32(11), 989–1007.
4. Braun, V., Clarke, V., Hayfield, N., & Terry, G. (2019). Thematic analysis. In P. Liamputtong (Ed.), Handbook of research methods in health social sciences (pp. 843–860). Singapore: Springer.
5. Bright, J., Marchal, N., Ganesh, B., & Rudinac, S. (2022). How do individuals in a radical echo chamber react to opposing views? Evidence from a content analysis of Stormfront. Human Communication Research, 48(1), 116–145.