Masterarbeit im Studiengang Data and Discourse Studies von Franziska Schneider: From Discord to Deception – Unravelling the Dynamics of Hate Speech and Disinformation in Information Warfare

Abstract: Disinformation and hate speech are often highlighted as major challenges within social media landscapes. While these phenomena have been extensively studied individually, their interconnection, particularly within the context of information warfare strategies, remains underexplored in empirical research. This thesis addresses this gap by providing a comprehensive analysis of how disinformation and hate speech converge to disrupt societies. Drawing on the framework of information warfare and psychological information operations, the research examines how these discourses contribute to the construction of echo chambers, intensifying societal polarisation through identity work. Methodologically, the study utilises large-scale social media fact-checking datasets and applies pre-trained machine learning classifiers to detect hate speech. A statistical evaluation follows to explore the interaction between hate speech and disinformation. This computational approach overcomes the limitations of previous studies that relied on resource-intensive manual annotations of smaller datasets. The results aim to enhance our understanding of the bidirectional relationship between disinformation and hate speech, contributing empirical insights that can inform the development of more effective counter-strategies against these destabilizing forces.

Betreuer: Julian Bäumler, M.A.
Prüfer: Prof. Dr. Dr. Christian Reuter