Institute of Sociology NASU

HATE SPEECH TOWARDS LGBT IN UKRAINIAN ONLINE MEDIA

stmm. 2022 (2): 138-161

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/sociology2022.02.138

MAKSYM KASIANCZUK, Research Fellow at the Department of Social Expertise, Institute of Sociology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (12, Shovkoyvchna St., Kyiv, 01021)

maxim.kasianczuk@gmail.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0701-3595

The article presents the results of a content-analytical study of 243 publications in online media of Ukraine during 2021 in comparison with the results of earlier monitorings of Ukrainian offline and online media. Analysis of both scientific literature shows that hate speech against minorities (in particular, LGBT) is an urgent issue that has a distinct practical dimension, because the spread of hate in the online environment can have the nature of an epidemic and be accompanied by an increase in violent acts. Although the results have a number of limitations (different ways of forming selective sets of media materials in the analyzed studies, lack of research consensus on the definition of hate speech, attribution of the collected data to the period before the beginning of the massive invasion of the Russian Federation troops on the territory of Ukraine and impossibility of reflecting the state of society in the war time), it showed that the number of news related to LGBT was decreasing, despite of media samples design. Publications containing hate speech were from 2 to 25%. Hate speech in these publications was usually quotes and does not express the position of the journalist. Hate speech arose in the context of both public and internal actions of the LGBT community and was accompanied by calls for violence or violence itself. Stronger hate speech was more typical for anonymous internet commentators, street hooligans (including those from organized right-wing gangs), and small local public figures. The collected materials are analyzed in the paradigm of R. Connell’s hierarchy of masculinities. Hate speech is characteristic primarily for the statements of athletes, military and politicians, that is, those who are associated in the public consciousness with the stereotypical image of a “real man”. In further studies, approaches to the formation of media samples should be standardized, as well as, the tools for automatic or semi-automatic content analysis should be developed. All this will facilitate the study of changes in hate speech in the public space.

Keywords: LGBT, Ukrainian media, content-analysis, hate speech, masculinities’ hierarchy

References

1. Bhatt, M. N. (2022). Queer Crimes & Criminal Justice (1st ed.). Routledge.
2. Bond, B. J. (2011). Sexuality in the media and emotional well-beign among lesbian, gay, & bisexual adolescents. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Retrieved from: https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/26199/bond_bradley.pdf
3. Churanova, O., Romaniuk, O. (2018). Sex scandals, myths, radicals and human rights: how did Ukrainian online media cover LGBT people? [In Ukrainian]. Retrieved from: https://imi.org.ua/monitorings/seks-skandaly-mify-radykaly-i-prava-lyudyny-yak-ukrajinski-internet-zmi-vysvitlyuyut-lhbt-i28354 [=Чуранова 2018]
4. Connell, R.W. (2005). Masculinities. California.
5. Daiier, Z. (2018). Proper Men and Proper Women of a Proper Country: Neotraditionalism in the post-revolutionary Ukraine. Malmö: University of Malmö.
6. Gorodnycha, L., Olkhovyk, M., Gergul, S. (2020). Linguistic Analysis of Slavic Media Texts containing Hate Speech. EUREKA: Social and Humanities, 6, 40–46. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21303/2504-5571.2020.001540
7. Gross, L. (1991). Out of the Mainstream: sexual minorities and the mass media. Journal of Homosexuality, 21 (1–2), 19–46. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1300/J082v21n01_04
8. Grybanov, A., Danilevych, T., Zhylovets, Yu., Kasianczuk, M., Kravchuk, A., Leshchynskii, Ye., Maimulakhin, A., Yudyn, V. (2000). Blue book. The situation of gays and lesbians in Ukraine [In Ukrainian]. Kyiv. [=Грибанов 2000]
9. Howard, J. W. (2019). Free Speech and Hate Speech. Annual Review of Political Science, 22 (1), 93–109. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-051517-012343
10. Isakova, T. (2016). Hate speech as a problem of the Ukrainian information space. [In Ukrainian]. Strategic Priorities, 41 (4), 90–97. Retrieved from: https://niss-priority.com/index.php/journal/article/view/121 [=Ісакова 2016]
11. Kasianczuk, M. H., Nefedovych, L. L., Stulova, A. V., Sheremet, S. P. (2013). LGBT issues in the media space of Ukraine: on the way to normalization. [In Russian]. In: LGBT Vector of Ukraine: Collection of Monitoring Reports (pp. 111–152). Kyiv: Nash svit. [=Касянчук 2013]
12. Kostovska, A. (2018). Between Gypsies and Roma: discrimination and stereotypes in the Ukrainian online newspapers. [In Ukrainian]. Wschod Europy. Studia Humanistyczno-Spoleczne, 3 (2), 39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17951/we.2017.3.2.39
13. Kravchuk, A. (2018). Hate crimes and incidents in Ukraine. Retrieved from: https://gay.org.ua/publications/hatecrime2018-e.pdf
14. Kravchuk, A., Zinchenkov, O., Lyashchenko, O. (2021). Community online. The LGBT situation in Ukraine in 2020. [In Ukrainian]. Kyiv: Nash svit. Retrieved from: https://gay.org.ua/blog/2021/02/02/spilnota-onlain-stanovyshche-lgbt-v-ukraini-u-2020-rotsi/ [=Кравчук 2021]
15. Laub, Z. (2019). Hate Speech on Social Media: Global Comparisons. Retrieved from: https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/hate-speech-social-media-global-comparisons
16. Macnamara, J. (2005). Media Content Analysis: Its Uses, Benefits and Best Practice Methodology. Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal, 6 (1), 1–34.
17. Maitra, I., McGowan, M.K. (2012). Speech and Harm: Controversies Over Free Speech. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
18. Martseniuk, T. (2015). Human rights for the LGBT community and EuroMaidan 2013–2014. [In Ukrainian]. Journal of Social Criticism “Spilne”, 9, (p. 83–94). Retrieved from: https://commons.com.ua/uk/prava-lyudini-dlya-lgbt-spilnoti-i-yevromajdan-2013-2014/ [=Марценюк 2014]
19. Martseniuk, T. (2015). Gender and Nation in Ukrainian Society: Masculinities and Euromaidan 2013–2014. Ya: Gendernyi Zhurnal, 37 (1), 4–9. Retrieved from: http://ekmair.ukma.edu.ua/bitstream/handle/123456789/4158/Martsenyuk_hender_i_pratsia.pdf [=Марценюк 2015]
20. Martseniuk, T. O., Shvets, O. P. (2011). Constructing masculinity at the Institute of Sports (on the example of Ukrainian footballers). [In Ukrainian]. Scientific Notes of NaUKMA, 122 (Sociological Sciences), 58–65. [=Марценюк 2011]
21. Mashkova, J. (2019). What is written about LGBT people in Ukraine: culture, international, opponents of the Equality March. [In Ukrainian]. Retrieved from: https://imi.org.ua/monitorings/shcho-pyshut-pro-lhbt-v-ukraini-kul-tura-mizhnarodka-protyvnyky-marshu-rivnosti-i28283 [=Машкова 2019]
22. Mashkova, J. (2021). There will be no Pride — and in the Ukrainian media too. Monitoring of LGBT+ coverage in online media. [In Ukrainian]. Retrieved from: https://imi.org.ua/monitorings/prajdu-ne-bude-i-v-ukrayinskyh-media-tezh-monitoryng-vysvitlennya-lgbt-v-onlajn-media-i39965 [=Машкова 2021]
23. Melnyk, L. (2021). Hate speech targets in COVID-19 related comments on Ukrainian news websites. Journal of Computer-Assisted Linguistic Research, 5 (1), 47–75. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4995/jclr.2021.15966
24. Morhun, A. (2019). Russia's war against Ukraine: trends in conflict discourse in modern Ukrainian media. [In Ukrainian]. Scientific Notes of the Institute of Political and Ethno-National Studies named after I.F. Kuras NAS of Ukraine, 3–4, 352–362. [=Моргун 2019]
25. On the threshold. The situation of LGBT people in Ukraine in 2013 (2014). [In Ukrainian]. Kyiv: Nash svit. [=На порозі 2014]
26. Paz, M.A., Montero-Dnaz, J., Moreno-Delgado, A. (2020). Hate Speech: A Systematized Review. SAGE Open, 10 (4), 1–12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020973022
27. Shestakovski, O., Kasianczuk, M., Trofymenko, O. (2021). The Revolution of Dignity and Instrumentalization of LGBT Rights: How did Attitudes towards LGBT People change in Ukraine after Euromaidan? Sociology: Theory, Methods, Marketing, 1, 127–150. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/sociology2021.01.127
28. Shestakovskyi, O., Trofymenko, O., Kasianczuk, M., Voznesenskyi, M. (2016). Post-revolutionary Ukraine: tolerance or right-leaning. [In Ukrainian]. Mariupol [=Шестаковський 2016]
29. Shevchenko, О. О. (2021). Attitude of Ukrainian political parties to respect for the rights of LGBT people. [In Ukrainian]. Kyiv: Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Retrieved from: http://ekmair.ukma.edu.ua/bitstream/handle/123456789/21924/Shevchenko_Stavlennia_politychnykh_partii_Ukrainy_do_dotrymannia_prav_LHBT_liudei.pdf [=Шевченко 2021]
30. Shikolai, M., Mashkova, J. (2020). Online media about LGBT people: harassment of officials, international and hate speech. [In Ukrainian]. Retrieved from: https://imi.org.ua/monitorings/onlajn-media-pro-lgbt-zashkvary-chynovnykiv-mizhnarodka-i-mova-vorozhnechi-i33555 [=Шиколай 2020]
31. Shimko, S. M. (2010). Coverage of LGB issues in the Ukrainian print media. [In Ukrainian]. Kyiv: Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. [=Шимко 2010]
32. Ștefanița, O., Buf, D.-M. (2021). Hate Speech in Social Media and Its Effects on the LGBT Community: A Review of Current Research. Romanian Journal of Communication and Public Relations, 23 (1), 47–55. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21018/rjcpr.2021.1.322
33. Stulova, H. V., Kasianczuk, M. H., Leshchynskyi, Ye. B. (2010). The phenomenon of homosexuality in the Ukrainian press: Report on the results of content analysis. [In Ukrainian]. Donetsk: Donbas-SotsProekt. [=Stulova 2010]
34. Tartakovskaia, I. (2013). The memory of participation in hostilities as a resource for constructing masculinity. [In Russian]. In: Ways to be a man: Transformations of masculinity in the XXI century (pp. 97–116). SPb. [=Тартаковская 2013]
35. The biggest hate speech in the online media of Lviv and Odessa is the IMI study (2020). [In Ukrainian]. Retrieved from: https://imi.org.ua/news/najbilshe-movy-vorozhnechi-v-onlajn-zmi-lvova-i-odesy-doslidzhennya-imi-i33790 [=Найбільше 2020]
36. The ice has melted. The situation of LGBT people in Ukraine in 2015 (2016). [In Ukrainian]. Kyiv: Nash svit. [=Крига 2016]
37. Vorontsov, D. V. (2013). The dichotomy of homo- and heterosexuality in the construct of masculinity in young men. [In Russian]. In: Ways to Be a Man: Transformations of Masculinity in the 21st Century (pp. 138–156). SPb. [=Воронцов 2013].
38. Yarmanova, G. (2018). Ukraine: Unfulfilled promises. In: Challenging hate: Monitoring anti-LGBT “hate speech” and responses to it in Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine (pp. 90–109). London: Article 19.
39. Zemliana, I. (2019). “Why not, when yes?” How did the Odesa and all-Ukrainian media cover OdesaPride? [In Ukrainian]. Retrieved from: https://imi.org.ua/monitorings/pochemu-net-kogda-da-yak-odeski-ta-vseukrayinski-media-vysvitlyuvaly-odesaprajd-i29617 [=Земляна 2019]
40. Ziems, C., He, B., Soni, S., Ramakrishnan, N., Yang, D., Kumar, S. (2020). Racism is a Virus: Anti-Asian Hate and Counterspeech in Social Media during the COVID-19 Crisis. Retrieved from: http://arxiv.org/abs/2005.12423
41. Zinchenkov, A. A., Kasianczuk, M. H., Kravchuk, A. V., Maimulakhin, A. Yu., Ostapenko, O. I., Sheremet, S. P. (2011). A step forward, and two steps back: The situation of LGBT people in Ukraine in 2010–2011. [In Russian]. Kyiv [=Зинченков 2011]

Received 26.04.2022