Online Toxicity Against Syrians in Turkish Twitter: Analysis and Implications

Authors

  • Hala Mulki The ORSAM for Middle Eastern studies
  • Samir Alabdullah The Harmon Center for Contemporary Studies
  • Ahmed Halil The Higher School of Languages, Translation, and Interpretation Department at Selçuk University
  • Nawari Al-Ali University of Aleppo in the liberated areas
  • Maria Kyriakidou School of Journalism, Media, and Culture at Cardiff University
  • Ludek Stavinoha Media and International Development at the University of East Anglia

Keywords:

Twitter, refugees, big data, disinformation, hate speech, online toxicity

Abstract

This study examines the portrayal of Syrians on Turkish Twitter between January and August 2021 through a big data analysis of more than 30,000 tweets. We employ the concept of online toxicity to differentiate between disinformation and hate speech and explore how they are embedded in the negative debates about Syrians on Twitter. Through opinion analysis, the study recognizes disinformation and hate speech patterns within tweets and questions the role they play in boosting anti-Syrian narratives, as well as the main actors behind them in the Turkish Twittersphere. The findings indicate that the discourse about Syrians on Twitter was overwhelmingly negative, with both disinformation and hate speech playing a significant role. Furthermore, a considerable portion of the disinformation tweets could be traced back to opposition political actors, highlighting how negative sentiment on Twitter was not only expressive of generalized public resentment against Syrians but also instrumentalized for political purposes. Overall, this article demonstrates how Twitter contributes to the public debate about Syrians in Turkey, reproducing nationalist narratives and serving political agendas.

Author Biographies

Hala Mulki, The ORSAM for Middle Eastern studies

Hala Mulki (Ph.D., Selçuk University, Computer Engineering Faculty) is a Data Scientist at the ORSAM Center for Middle Eastern Studies in Turkey. Her research interests include Social Media analytics, opinion mining, disinformation, and hate speech detection.

Samir Alabdullah, The Harmon Center for Contemporary Studies

Samir Alabdullah (Ph.D., Ain Shams University), is an academic, researcher at the Harmon Center for Contemporary Studies. His research interests include modern and contemporary history, politics, and Middle Eastern societies.

Ahmed Halil, The Higher School of Languages, Translation, and Interpretation Department at Selçuk University

Ahmed Halil (Ph.D., Selçuk University - Turkey) is an assistant professor at the Higher School of Languages, Translation and Interpretation Department at Selçuk University. His research interests include translation studies, Languages, and Literature.

Nawari Al-Ali, University of Aleppo in the liberated areas

Nawari Al-Ali (Ph.D., University of Damascus, Syria) is a professor at the University of Aleppo in the liberated areas. His research interests include studies in human geography.

Maria Kyriakidou, School of Journalism, Media, and Culture at Cardiff University

Maria Kyriakidou (Ph.D., London School of Economics) is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Journalism, Media, and Culture at Cardiff University. Her research interests include the mediation of global crises and distant suffering, humanitarian communication, and disinformation.

Ludek Stavinoha, Media and International Development at the University of East Anglia

Ludek Stavinoha (Ph.D., University of Strathclyde) is a Lecturer in Media and International Development at the University of East Anglia. His research interests include the politics of grassroots humanitarianism and border control in Europe.

Downloads

Published

2023-12-26

Issue

Vol. 18 (2024)

Section

Articles

License

The International Journal of Communication is an academic journal. As such, it is dedicated to the open exchange of information. For this reason, IJoC is freely available to individuals and institutions. Copies of this journal or articles in this journal may be distributed for research or educational purposes free of charge and without permission. However, commercial use of the IJoC website or the articles contained herein is expressly prohibited without the written consent of the editor. Authors who publish in The International Journal of Communication will release their articles under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd) license. This license allows anyone to copy and distribute the article for non-commercial purposes provided that appropriate attribution is given. For details of the rights authors grants users of their work, see the "human-readable summary" of the license, with a link to the full license. (Note that "you" refers to a user, not an author, in the summary.) This journal utilizes the LOCKSSsystem to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. The publisher perpetually authorizes participants in the LOCKSS system to archive and restore our publication through the LOCKSS System for the benefit of all LOCKSS System participants. Specifically participating libraries may:
  • Collect and preserve currently accessible materials;
  • Use material consistent with original license terms;
  • Provide copies to other LOCKSS appliances for purposes of audit and repair.
 

Fair Use

The U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 specifies, in Section 107, the terms of the Fair Use exception: Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:
  1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
  2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
  3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; &
  4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors. In accord with these provisions, the International Journal of Communication believes in the vigorous assertion and defense of Fair Use by scholars engaged in academic research, teaching and non-commercial publishing. Thus, we view the inclusion of “quotations” from existing print, visual, audio and audio-visual texts to be appropriate examples of Fair Use, as are reproductions of visual images for the purpose of scholarly analysis. We encourage authors to obtain appropriate permissions to use materials originally produced by others, but do not require such permissions as long as the usage of such materials falls within the boundaries of Fair Use.

The International Journal of Communication encourages authors to employ fair use in their scholarly publishing wherever appropriate. Fair use is the right to use unlicensed copyrighted material (whether it is text, images, audio-visual, or other) in your own work, in some circumstances. We consult the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Scholarly Research in Communication, created by the International Communication Association and endorsed by the National Communication Association, and you should too. If you have any questions about whether fair use applies to your uses of copyrighted material (whether it is text, images, audio-visual, or other) in your scholarship, simply include your rationale, grounded in the Best Practices, as a supplementary document with your submission.