‘WHAT KIND OF MOTHER ARE YOU?!’ AI-supported psychological analysis of the phenomenon of online hate speech against women giving birth by caesarean section

Objectives In recent years, Poland has seen the emergence of online hate speech against women giving birth by caesarean section. This phenomenon appears to warrant exploration, given the negative impact it may have both on women who have already given birth in this way and on those who are about to choose how to give birth. Material and methods Brand24 and Worditout, both AI-based tools, were used to analyse the online space related to pregnancy and motherhood topics in terms of hate speech against women giving birth by caesarean section. Results The analysis revealed high levels of hate speech against this group. The sample utterances that have been analysed meet the criteria of interpersonal aggression. The haters focused not on the argumentative quality of their interaction with the antagonist, but on the attack intended to undermine the addressee’s psychological wellbeing through such linguistic strategies as stigmatisation, dehumanisation and depersonalisation. Conclusions The presented AI-based tools appear likely to become a viable option among contemporary instruments for monitoring psychological and social phenomena that may have a major impact on the wellbeing and functioning of large social groups.