“You Don't Understand, This is a New War!” Analysis of Hate Speech in News Web Sites' Comments

Because news websites' comments have become an important space of spreading hate speech, this article tries to contribute to uncovering the characteristics of Internet hate speech by combining discourse analyses of comments on Slovenian news websites with online in-depth interviews with producers of hate speech comments, researching their values, beliefs, and motives for production. Producers of hate speech use different strategies, mostly rearticulating the meaning of news items. The producers either are organized or act on their own initiative. The main motive of soldiers and believers is the mission; they share characteristics of an authoritarian personality. The key motives of the players are thrill and fun. The watchdogs are motivated by drawing attention to social injustice. The last two groups share the characteristics of a libertarian personality.