Words as Weapons: the Use of Hate Speech and Framing in the Russo-Ukrainian War

In the past few years, social media has altered our lives in many aspects. Not only did it change the way interpersonal communication occurs, but also how people express their feelings, advocate their “unpopular opinions” and even debate. Nowadays, people have the opportunity to convey their ideologies, sheltered by the comforting anonymity that online social platforms provide. As a consequence, internet users feel safe posting hateful comments and expressions online, revealing their prejudices and lifting the mask they wear in public, without the fear of being recognized and judged. This disinhibition caused by anonymity, has led to an increase in the spread of hate speech online, which targets different individuals who are often object of internet-based abuse, simply because of their gender, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, colour of their skin, body type and so on. This happens in particular in times of war and contentious politics, as many people feel entitled to take a stand and express their thoughts about the matter, making debasing and hateful comments with the intention to support the part they stand on and undermine the other one. On a more general note, it is irrefutable to say that language and the way people decide to express themselves through it play a very important role, especially in the contemporary online scenario. In fact, it can be a decisive element which helps in lowering the morale of the adversary, spread false information and extremist ideologies, and ultimately it can be used to cunningly shape narratives and influence people’s minds and opinions. This is because the online and less concrete side of today’s human interactions has been proven to be a mirror of the offline behaviours and, if used with negative ends, it contributes to the fuelling of violence and not pacific debates, proving the fact that words can function as literal weapons – even not in times of armed conflicts. For this reason, it is important to carry out research on this matter, to spread awareness and try to find solutions in order to prevent the sparks that put in motion violent mechanisms within societies. This thesis aims to analyse the presence of hate speech and its features in the context of the Russo-Ukrainian war, both on social media and newspapers to investigate the role of language in a delicate situation. The work will proceed as follows: first, a brief background of the conflict and some information about the role of social media in times of war will be provided, along with an overview of hate speech as a digital weapon. Then, the second Chapter of the thesis will move on to the theoretical framework and focus on hate speech and the concept of framing, laying the groundwork on which the analysis of the presence of hateful speech and framing will be carried out in Chapter three where their linguistics features in the context of the recent Russo-Ukrainian war will be investigated, providing some examples extrapolated from social media and traditional news outlets. Lastly, the work will be concluded with a discussion of the findings and final conclusions and considerations will be drawn.