Language, Media and the Weaponisation of Hate. By Way of Introduction

This paper examines the sociopolitical and discursive forces underpinning the rise and normalization of hate speech in the Anglophone public sphere. Drawing on Hannah Arendt’s notion of negative solidarity, it explores how contemporary crises, including pandemics, geopolitical conflict, and digital disinformation, have contributed to a climate in which hate is increasingly mobilised as an ideological resource. Particular attention is paid to the role of digital media platforms in reshaping hate speech as a complex, multimodal, and algorithmically amplified phenomenon that increasingly collapses the divide between online expression and offline violence. The discussion foregrounds the ways in which technologically mediated communication enables the circulation, intensification, and normalization of exclusionary discourse across public and private spheres. In response, the paper calls for an urgent interdisciplinary engagement with the weaponisation of language, stressing the need for context-sensitive legal definitions, greater media accountability, and sustained critical linguistic intervention.