THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE SPREAD OF POLITICAL AND ETHNIC HATE SPEECH IN İVORY COAST: THE EXAMPLE OF TIKTOK

Abstract

With the widespread use of the Internet, social media platforms are playing an active role in social relations, with an increasing number of users and content being shared. These platforms have created a new model of social relations in almost all societies and have led to significant transformations in the qualities of traditional communication processes. However, while social media has paved the way for humanity by facilitating communication, they have also brought with them negative aspects and abuses such as hateful and xenophobic comments, cyberbullying, copyright infringement and the endangerment of privacy through the sharing of personal data. In societies like İvory Coast, which have not yet completed the process of democratic development, this can play a role in deepening political and ethnic divisions. This study analyses the role of social media in the dissemination of political and ethnic hate speech in İvory Coast. TikTok is used as an example of a platform. TikTok is one of the most popular and effective social media platforms in Côte d'Ivoire. For this purpose, a sample of 352 posts containing hate speech shared between August and December 2024 was selected and content analyses were performed using MAXQDA software. The results show that TikTok has played a role in the popularizing of political and ethnic hate speech in İvory Coast.