Incivility and Intolerance in COVID-19 Discussions on Facebook
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14230%2F23%3A00132084" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14230/23:00132084 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/20563051231207848" target="_blank" >https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/20563051231207848</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/20563051231207848" target="_blank" >10.1177/20563051231207848</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Incivility and Intolerance in COVID-19 Discussions on Facebook
Original language description
The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled heated discussions and intensified polarization in the exchange of opinions. Due to strict government restrictions, including a hard lockdown, much of this debate took place online. In this study, we examine how Czechs engaged in political discussions on Facebook during the pandemic. This research looks into the occurrence of incivility and intolerance and the similarities/contrasts with normatively desirable discursive features. We also focus on the perception of differences between various types of antinormative expressions among participants in online discussions and their roles. We use a mixed-method approach: a quantitative content analysis of comments on the Facebook pages of two of the Czech Republic’s most popular news media outlets (i.e., public service television, ČT24, and commercial television, TN.CZ) and two top Czech politicians (Andrej Babiš and Tomio Okamura); and qualitative interviews with 20 participants collected during the Springs of 2021. Data were downloaded by Facepager during the hard lockdown in the Czech Republic (March and April 2021), and the final sample consisted of 1,792 comments. We reveal that incivility, when expressed with a justified opinion, was less likely to directly attack other commenters within the thread. We also observe differences in the amount of incivility in politicians’ pages compared to the news media. Incivility has increased over time since the hard lockdown started. We address the implications of different conditions in which incivility and intolerance occurred and their impact on deliberative democracy.
Czech name
—
Czech description
—
Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
—
OECD FORD branch
50802 - Media and socio-cultural communication
Result continuities
Project
<a href="/en/project/GA19-24724S" target="_blank" >GA19-24724S: Political polarization in the Czech Republic: The case of multi-party system</a><br>
Continuities
P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)<br>S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach
Others
Publication year
2023
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Social Media + Society
ISSN
2056-3051
e-ISSN
2056-3051
Volume of the periodical
9
Issue of the periodical within the volume
4
Country of publishing house
GB - UNITED KINGDOM
Number of pages
12
Pages from-to
1-12
UT code for WoS article
001091566800001
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-85175353742