Decoding implicit hate speech: The example of antisemitism

Abstract

This article deals with the problem and the different levels of implicity in the context of antisemitic hate speech. By means of authentic examples stemming from social media debates, we show how alluded antisemitic concepts can be inferred on the basis of conservative interpretation. We point out the role of different sources of knowledge in reconstructing the ideas implied in a statement as well as potential sources of error in the interpretation process. The article thus focuses on the methods and findings of the interdisciplinary research project "Decoding Antisemitism" conducted at the Center for Research on Antisemitism (ZfA) at TU Berlin. By doing so, it explains the procedure of qualitative content analysis as a fruitful approach to understand the actual repertoire of antisemitic hate speech online.