Online Hate Discourse: A Study on Hatred Speech Directed Against Syrian Refugees on YouTube

Hate speech existed even before the world gained a digital dimension. But unlike the past, with the widespread use of the Internet this language that carries violent, racist, sexist and hostile notes acquired a plane that enables it to spread much faster over these networks. Extant literature shows us that groups that are exposed o this speech the most are women, LGBT individuals, racial and religious minorities, foreigners, immigrants and refugees. It is a wellknown fact that the regions that experience that most immigrant mobility are South Sudan, Afghanistan and Syria. This study focuses on online hate speech directed at Syrian immigrants. The objective is to reveal the hate speech generated by users on Syrian immigrants and circulated on YouTube and to show through which speech practices this takes place. As a result of this study, it was observed that Syrians were stigmatized with negatives labels such as “traitors, a potential threat, overstepping, the sources of financial difficulties.”