The interplay between disability and disparagement hourmor on social media

What is it about?

There is a growing body of literature addressing the surge of different types of online harassment. Yet, despite the undeniable contribution brought by this literature, there is still another aspect that remains underexplored. That is, the interplay between politically motivated hate speech and disability. Furthermore, the potential harm and adverse societal impacts of this type of manifestation can be amplified when triggered by extremist far-right political discourses. Thus, to examine this phenomenon and unpack the embedded meaning of this type of social media discourse, the present study develops a critical discourse analysis on a sample of 160 comments publicly available on YouTube belittling current Brazil’s president’s disability (who lost a finger during his youth).

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Photo by Elevate on Unsplash

Photo by Elevate on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The investigation reveals that many social media users find amusement in somebody else’s disability. However, mocking this condition represents a way to remove a person’s value and reduce them solely to their physical or mental impairment, independently of the level of severity. Ultimately, this sort of discursive strategy objectifies the individual, disregards the disability condition, and turns them into a laughable object.

Perspectives