Morrison, J. (2024) ‘Abusing the unprotected ‘poor’: The prevalence of povertyist stigma and hate speech on unmoderated newspaper comment threads’, Journal of Applied Journalism and Media Studies, 13(2), pp.237-257.
Project Co-investigator Dr James Morrison has published a new article in the Journal of Applied Journalism and Media Studies, focusing on the prevalence of povertyist and anti-welfare hate speech in unmoderated UK online newspaper comment threads. The paper demonstrates how right-wing national newspapers such as the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph are taking advantage of gaps in the UK Equality Act 2010 to routinely publish news articles and comment pieces discriminating against working-age social security benefit recipients – particularly people who are unemployed or ‘economically inactive’ (including those out of work due to disability or unpaid caring responsibilities). One outcome of this is that the comments posted by their readers often echo and amplify these povertyist and/or anti-welfare prejudices, with some extreme examples including language that amounts to hate speech and incitement. The article argues that tougher press regulation and moderation policies are needed to prevent and/or remove such hate speech, and suggests there is a case for an additional ‘protected characteristic’ to be introduced in UK equality law – to protect individuals stigmatised due to economic status and/or disadvantage.
