Media creation of anti-refugee hate speech in Facebook comments

The article, analyzing anti-refugee hate speech in the comments on Facebook profiles of selected media outlets, examines how the topic of migration was communicated and commented on online during the period of increased migration to Europe from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. As a country on the Western Balkans migration route, Slovenia experienced a surge in hate speech in 2015 linked to the "long summer of migration", especially on social media. Using a sample of 6,545 online comments on news media posts published between 2012 and 2017, we combine quantitative and qualitative analysis of anti-refugee comments that can be classified as hate speech and the articles under which they appear. The analysis shows that articles using sensationalist rhetoric and emphasizing deviant actions by refugees provoke the highest share of violent comments. Sensationalist media reporting directly contributes to the creation of hate speech. By combining a sociological analysis of socially divisive comments, with considerations of criminally prosecutable speech, and the influence of social media, the article provides a unique contribution to the study of the role that the attention economy of digital platforms plays in the propagation of hate speech.