Crazy, Stupid, Lying, Traitors: Eritrean Politics and Extreme Speech Online

IF 0.8 3区社会学 Q3 ANTHROPOLOGY

Anthropological Quarterly Pub Date : 2023-09-01 DOI:10.1353/anq.2023.a915252

Victoria Bernal

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Abstract

ABSTRACT:This essay explores the dynamics of extreme speech online in the context of Eritrea's fraught politics. I find the public sphere that Eritreans in diaspora established on a website as constantly open to collapse and subversion, and thus requiring on-going negotiation among participants. The analysis draws on a close reading of a set of online exchanges in response to a narrative posted on a leading Eritrean news and discussion website. The operation of an open public sphere online is especially significant for Eritreans since there is no right to freedom of expression and no independent media inside the country. In heated exchanges online, people’s identities as Eritreans and their loyalties are questioned in spectacular attempts to silence, intimidate, and exclude certain people or ideas. What I also uncover are the strategies used by some posters and the moderator to assert the value of civil discourse and to keep the public forum open and inclusive. The ways that Eritreans engage in and respond to extreme speech in an online forum are interesting for what they reveal about Eritrean politics, but furthermore shed light on the global issue of extreme speech, digital media, and public spheres.

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疯狂、愚蠢、撒谎、叛徒：厄立特里亚政治和极端言论 Online

ABSTRACT:This essay explore the dynamics of extreme speech online in the context of Eritrea's fraught politics.我发现散居国外的厄立特里亚人在一个网站上建立的公共领域不断面临崩溃和颠覆，因此需要参与者之间不断协商。分析借鉴了针对厄立特里亚主要新闻和讨论网站上发布的叙述而进行的一系列在线交流的细读。由于厄立特里亚国内没有言论自由权，也没有独立的媒体，因此网上开放公共领域的运作对厄立特里亚人来说尤为重要。在网上激烈的交流中，人们作为厄立特里亚人的身份和忠诚度受到质疑，有人试图压制、恐吓和排斥某些人或某些观点，场面十分壮观。我还发现了一些发帖人和版主所使用的策略，以维护公民言论的价值，保持公共论坛的开放性和包容性。厄立特里亚人在网络论坛上参与和应对极端言论的方式不仅揭示了厄立特里亚的政治，而且还揭示了极端言论、数字媒体和公共领域等全球性问题。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Anthropological Quarterly ANTHROPOLOGY-

CiteScore

1.60

自引率

11.10%

发文量

期刊介绍： Since 1921, Anthropological Quarterly has published scholarly articles, review articles, book reviews, and lists of recently published books in all areas of sociocultural anthropology. Its goal is the rapid dissemination of articles that blend precision with humanism, and scrupulous analysis with meticulous description.