Hate speech as a research object in Information Sciences

Abstract

TIn the context of an increasingly diverse society in which different identities and perspectives coexist, hate speech has also emerged and grew parallelly. This phenomenon, characterized by violent actions and expressions directed towards minorities, unprivileged groups as well as vulnerable collectives, is amplified by digital platforms and social media in particular. It poses significant challenges to a proper coexistence and human rights in our interconnected age. This article focuses on the study of hate speech in the field of Library and Information Science based on the research indexed by the Web of Science and the doctoral theses from the Ibero-American region for the period 2017-2022. We retrieved a total of 59 records that were analyzed using the software Pajek to visualize the network of scientific collaboration and the software VOSviewer to create networks of co-authorship and co-occurrence of topics. The results indicate an increase in publications on hate speech between 2017 and 2022, with a significant raise in 2021 and 2022. Spain, the United States, and Brazil stand out as the most productive countries on the topic, with universities such as Complutense University of Madrid in Spain and Federal University of Paraná in Brazil leading this research. The journal "Information Processing & Management" served as a fundamental medium for disseminating scientific knowledge about hate speech. The social network analysis revealed that most researchers in the field work individually, although there is a trend towards more stable co-authorship teams in recent years, suggesting room for greater scientific collaboration given the interdisciplinary nature of the topic. The keyword co-occurrence analysis reflects an interdisciplinary perspective encompassing computer science, social sciences, communication, and journalism in the study of hate speech within Library and Information Science.