DIGITAL HATE AND RESILIENCY: EXPERIENCE OF ONLINE HATE SPEECH AND COPING MECHANISMS AMONG MALAYSIAN YOUTHS

Abstract

Online hate speech is now widely used and spread to many countries including Malaysia. Youths are the main contributors to the acts of violent crimes such as racism and discrimination against targeted populations. The present paper proposes to dive deeper into this phenomenon widely affecting users of digital media in the 21st century. The objective of this study is to investigate the experience of online hate speech among youths by exploring the experience of receiving online hate speech, perceived potential factors that may have contributed to it, and coping mechanisms used. The participants of this study will be recruited using purposive sampling based on the criteria that they are youths aged 18 to 25 years old and have experienced online hate speech before in their life. This study proposes the use of phenomenological research design with seven open-ended questions and thematic analysis. The study expects to identify experiences of online hate speech potentially on racial and religious sentiments due to the diverse yet divisive nature of Malaysian communities that could have been a result of national political instability. The study could also identify how youths attempt to cope with the rapid pace of digital media becoming an echo chamber of online hate speech. The impact of this study could help raise awareness of hazardous hate speech acts and activate potential digital resiliency for the youths of Malaysia. Plus, it could inform the Malaysian National Action Plan Preventing and Countering Against Violent Extremism (NAPPCVE).