Hate Speech on Social Media

The shadow media outlets of political parties on social media platforms play a negative role in spreading hate speech, especially in tough political tensions. The political parties compete and target the opposition parties, through their affiliate media and followers, directly and indirectly attacking their opponents and creating a tense virtual environment, in a way to push the audience and social media users to believe in what they are claiming. In such campaigns, they use harsh, insulting, and inappropriate expressions. This Research is an attempt to unveil the truth, about using Hate Speech on social media by political parties and weighing their approach, on social media platforms, during political disagreements in the Kurdistan Region. The method of this research is based on an Analysis of Content and conducted a month-long analysis of General Focusing, on all the articles and posts published by Basnews, Kobas, and Malik outlets on social media. The study tried to point out, the level of hate speech on social platforms. Also, the impact of the political party’s shadow media on spreading hate speech. As well as the user’s engagement, interaction, and reactions toward this phenomenon.