Toxic emotions in the new public sphere: media controversies and hate discourse

• Main Authors: Rafael ALCÁCER-GUIRAO, Héctor FOUCE
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad de Alicante 2020-07-01
• Series: Revista Mediterránea de Comunicación
• Subjects: public sphere; hate speech; mediation; criminal law; emotion
• Online Access: https://www.mediterranea-comunicacion.org/article/view/2020-v11-n2-emociones-toxicas-en-la-nueva-esfera-publica

In recent years, criminal punishment for hate discourse has become widespread in Spain: one of the arguments for denying it an enhanced protection of freedom of expression derives from its irrational nature, which means it cannot be denoted as a discourse. To discuss this concept, an interdisciplinary approach linking the legal principles of freedom of expression with the centrality of public sphere deliberation in democratic societies is offered, with a review of how the discourse establishes a mediation space between emotion and action. We argue that a diverse public sphere where offensive discourses are allowed needs media mediation. The role of the media would concentrate on reconfiguration of their position within the public sphere offering participatory models and recovering their position as communities’ places of encounters and conversation.