Discursos de ódio nas redes sociais: análise psicossocial do racismo e o extremismo na sociedade brasileira

Abstract

The curtailment of critical awareness paves the way for the naturalization of racism, masking the reproduction of hate speech as a form of opinion or freedom of expression, as we have seen on social media and on the various digital platforms that disseminate extremist content. Therefore, this work aimed to analyze the psychosocial aspects involved in the perpetuation and dissemination of racist practices on social media. With a theoretical character based on Critical Theory of Society, the concepts of racism, cultural industry, digital technology and extremism, articulated with each other, were briefly discussed to compose the analysis of the high incidence of hate speech on social media and its reflects on contemporary Brazilian society. For this analysis, we present five news items from digital magazines and newspapers, dating from 2016 to 2024. The results indicate that the reproduction of racism on social media is facilitated and, simultaneously, large companies profit financially from it and finance government actions of an extremist nature, since social media is a fertile ground for the dissemination of extreme right-wing principles that encompass hate speech. Therefore, it can be seen that the change in this scenario is anchored in new ways of forming social ties and in the production of a culture that propels in individuals the development of a critical sense and social reflection. It is also possible to speak of regulating of social media that respects democratic access to the internet and the use of alternative platforms that are allied with anti-racist digital education.