Being and Creating a Safe Space on the Internet. Digital Communication
Practices of Mexican LGBT+ Youth in Response to Hate Speech
Ser y hacer un lugar seguro en Internet. Prácticas comunicativas digitales de
jóvenes LGBT+ mexicanos ante discursos de odio
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July-December of 2025
ISSN: 1696-019X / e-ISSN: 2386-3978
How to cite this article:
Olmedo Neri, R. A. (2025) Being and Creating a Safe Space on the Internet. Digital Communication Practices of Mexican LGBT+ Youth in
Response to Hate Speech.
Doxa Comunicación
, 41, pp. 191-212.
https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.n41a2200
Raul Anthony Olmedo Neri.
Professor at the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at the National Autonomous
University of Mexico (UNAM). He is a member of the Interdisciplinary Seminar on Communication and Information
(SICI, UNAM) and the Mexican Association of Communication Researchers (AMIC). He has received two international
recognitions in the young researchers’ category, the most recent being from the UNESCO Chair of Gender Equality in
Higher Education Institutions, sponsored by the Pontical Catholic University of Peru. In addition, he has obtained
research grants from institutions such as the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) and the Maria Sibylla
Merian Centre for Advanced Latin American Studies (CALAS). roughout his six years of teaching and professional
experience, he has focused on developing a specic line of research on LGBT+ populations and communication.
Building on this focus, he has published over 70 articles and book chapters on the following research lines: LGBT+
studies, digital activism, ICT, and everyday life.
National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico
[email protected]
ORCID:
0000-0001-5318-0170
is content is published under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License. International License CC BY-NC 4.0
Received: 29/01/2024 - Accepted: 09/07/2024 - Early access: 12/09/2024 - Published: 01/07/2025
Recibido: 29/01/2024 - Aceptado: 09/07/2024 - En edición: 12/09/2024 - Publicado: 01/07/2025
Abstract:
is research analyses the digital communication practices that LGBT+
youth develop to confront hate speech on the Internet. To achieve this, a
theoretical framework based on the communication perspective, which
problematises the subject-technology relationship, is constructed.
e qualitative methodology with a descriptive scope is synthesised
through the method of systematising experience. Semi-structured
interviews were conducted with 15 young Mexicans who dissent from
the cisheteronorm to analyse the strategies they employ in response
to hate speech on the Internet. e results indicate that LGBT+ youth
recalibrate the symbolic impact of hate speech on the Internet due to
the subjective technological distance between themselves and the
Resumen:
Esta investigación analiza las prácticas comunicativas digitales que
los jóvenes LGBT+ desarrollan para enfrentar los discursos de odio en
Internet. Para ello se construye un marco teórico sustentado en la pers
-
pectiva comunicacional que problematiza la relación sujeto-tecnología.
La metodología cualitativa y con alcance descriptivo se sintetiza en el
método de la sistematización de la experiencia; mediante entrevistas
semiestructuradas a 15 jóvenes mexicanos disidentes a la cisheteronor
-
ma se analizan las estrategias que emplean ante un discurso de odio en
Internet. Los resultados apuntan que los jóvenes LGBT+ recalibran el
impacto simbólico de los discursos de odio en Internet por la distancia
subjetiva-tecnológica entre ellos y los usuarios anónimos que los pro
-
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anonymous users who promote it. Consequently, LGBT+ youth leverage
the interaction logic of socio-digital platforms to enhance their control
over their digital environment and the groups in which they participate
in order to render and maintain these spaces as safe spaces.
Keywords:
LGBT
;
youth experience
;
hate speech social media
;
communication
perspective.
mueven. Así, los jóvenes LGBT+ aprovechan las lógicas de interacción
de las plataformas sociodigitales para incrementar su control sobre su
entorno digital y los grupos en los que participan con el n de volverlos
y mantenerlos como espacios seguros.
Palabras clave:
LGBT; experiencia juvenil; discurso de odio; redes sociales; perspectiva
comunicacional.
1. Introduction
e visibility, reach, and form that hate speech acquires
on
and
through
the Internet have complexied and intensied its
political and sociocultural eects on societies (Risso, 2022). Despite its heterogeneity, hate speech shares a core underpinned
by othering, which seeks to create and legitimise asymmetrical power relations by accuentating individual and/or collective
dierences (Martínez & Sánchez Ceci, 2023; Rea Campos, 2017; Pérez Salazar, 2021; Ramírez-García, González-Molina,
Gutiérrez-Arenas & Moyano-Pacheco, 2022). In this way, hate speech intertwines with systemic inequalities present in
everyday life, thereby legitimising its impact on vulnerable populations.
Internationally, research on hate speech against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans (LGBT+) individuals on the Internet is
limited. Sex-gender dissidents experience a specic type of dominion
1
, which simultaneously engenders various forms of
oppression
2
throughout their lives as their presence in everyday life systematically challenges the mandates and structures of
cisheteronormative society (Martínez & Sánchez Ceci, 2023; De-Casa-Moreno, Parejo-Cuéllar & Vizcaíno-Verdú, 2023). e
unfavourable position of non-hegemonic sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions within this context renders
them subaltern to the dominant ideology, which legitimises systematic mechanisms of violence against them. erefore, it is
crucial to develop analytical tools to understand hate speech targeting LGBT+ populations while considering their ontological
and contextual charactertistics (Olmedo Neri, 2022).
is research arises from an investigation into how LGBT+ youth utilise socio-digital platforms when they are subjected to hate
speech, both directly and indirectly, and the strategies they have developed to counteract such speech in digital environments.
e focus on LGBT+ youth is driven by two strategic considerations: rst, Information and Communication Technologies
(ICTs) and the Internet are integral to contemporary youth experiences; second, this demographic represents one of the most
1
Dominion refers to an asymmetric power relationship with a structural order, manifesting uniformly across dierent societies. is allows individuals beneting
from this order to gain symbolic and ideological power that enables them to subjugate marginalised groups. For example, the dominance of adults over young
people or cis heterosexual men over cis heterosexual women and sex-gender dissidents. Tranforming this relationship of dominance requires restructuring the
system to which it adheres. erefore, changing the dominion relationship necessitates dismantling and reconguring the social order under a new paradigm.
2
Oppression is a form of violence rooted in a relationship of dominion. Its specicity lies in its dependence on the context, time, and place of its expression,
making its manifestation heterogeneous and contingent. erefore, the visibility, intensity, and coerciveness of oppression are inuenced by the legitimacy of
the discourse emanating from the power inciting such actions, as well as the power dynamics among marginalised groups. For instance, the situation for LGBT+
individuals in Europe contrasts sharply with that in the Middle East; while, in the former, these groups have gained increasing legitimacy, the latter face such
adverse conditions that forms of opression can legally end their lives. ese particularities condition how oppression manifests and persists in each society.
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vulnerable groups among sex-gender dissidents. e intersection of their sex-gender identities with their youth exacerbates
their already disadvantaged position.
ese factors are further complicated in the Mexican context, characterised by systemic inequalities and the ideological
hegemony of cisherternormativity. Specically, Mexico is one of the Latin American countries with the highest rates of
violence against LGBT+ individuals, particularly within the Trans population (Brito, 2023; National Observatory of Hate Crimes
Against LGBT+, 2020). Additionally, the adult-centric nature of contemporary societies exacerbates the vulnerability of youth
who deviate from cisheteronormativity, making them the subgroup most frequently targeted for aggression in everyday life.
According to AMICUS (2024), of the 3,277 recorded acts of violence against individuals dissenting from cisheteronormativity
in Mexico between 2017 and 2024, 66% were perpetrated against individuals aged 12 to 30. erefore, despite enduring high
levels of violence, young LGBT+ individuals paradoxically reperesent one of the least researched groups (CONAPRED, 2018;
INEGI, 2022; Yaaj México, 2016).
In this context, the relationship that LGBT+ youth establish with ICTs and the Internet acquires a qualitative uniqueness that
is not empirically observed in the experiences of young people who conform to the dominant ideology. Consequently, the
ways in which youth who dissent from the cisheteronormative framework integrate technological devices and digital platforms
into their lives enable them to imbue these technologies with counter-hegemonic meanings to create autonomous and
counter-power spaces from which they can evade cisheteronormative surveillance, and dismantle the coercive mechanisms
imposed by the dominant ideology in everyday life. Specically, LGBT+ youth creatively employ these techno-communicative
informational innovations to 1) access counter-hegemonic content that rearms their gender and sexual dissent, 2) overcome
spatial limitations, and connect with LGBT+ individuals in other locations/contexts. 3) assert their sexual orientation, gender
identity, and gender expression in digital spaces, and 4) mitigate the eects of the domination and oppression resulting from
their subaltern status in an adult-centric and cisherteronormative society (Martel, 2013; Olmedo Neri, 2022).
e ways in which young LGBT+ Mexicans use and attribute meaning to ICTs and the internet are framed within a context
where the social, political, and cultural recognition of sex-gender dissidence remains incomplete
.
Ocial data from Mexico
indicates that individuals explore and dene their sex-gender identity during childhood (under 12 years old) and youth (aged
12 to 29) (INEGI, 2022). However, LGBT+ youth are often forced to develop strategies of camouage and representation to
avoid the (in)direct violence that is prevalent and legitimised in their daily environments. e need to conceal their sex-gender
dissidence and to build resilience against hate speech in public and/or family spaces highlights the hostile context in which
young people who dissent from cisheteronormativity in Mexico must navigate (INEGI, 2022; Yaaj México, 2016).
Under these conditions, this research aims to identify the strategies devised by LGBT+ youth when confronted with hate
speech propagated on the Internet and to analyse their techno-social implications. is study operates under the assumption
that socio-digital platforms provide LGBT+ youth with techno-operational tools to evade hate speech, report its perpetrators,
and symbolically dismantle the exclusionary and segregative core of such content.
To achieve this goal, a theoretical framework is developed from a communicational perspective to highlight the specic
characteristics of hate speech directed at LGBT+ individuals and the opportunities that socio-digital platforms provide them
to confront it. Subsequently, the methodological design is detailed, and the results are discussed from this perspective.
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1.1. Hate Speech and LGBT+ populations
Hate speech contingently articulates nonverbal, physical, and/or symbolic actions to incite and legitimise acts of violence
rooted in intolerance and (in)dierence (Martínez & Sánchez Ceci, 2023; Ramírez Salado, 2022). Hate speech dehumanises
its targets by symbolically and factually suppressing the human rights of victims, relegating them to a position of inferiority/
subalternity (Gomes Dantas & Pereira Neto, 2015; García González, 2022).
Hate speech is characterised by two inherent elements: the process of othering on which it is based and the ideological
core that provides its explanatory coherence. Othering is a process through which a “we” is constructed in opposition to an
otherness, often perceived as a threat or as the source of socio-cultural and/or economic issue(s). e negative symbolic charge
of hate speech justies the need to distance from this otherness and legitimises the implementation of violent mechanisms to
impede its progress and minimise its impact (Pérez Salazar, 2021; Rea Campos, 2017). For othering to be eective, a distance
must be constructed between an “us” and “them”. e emphasis on dierences and the articulation of systemic inequalities
based on race, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, and social class, among others, underpin this separation and,
consequently, obscure the dehumanisation it promotes.
On the other hand, if hate speech possesses an ideological core, its construction is grounded in a framework of reference that
provides it with meaning and ‘coherence’ (Martínez & Sánchez Ceci, 2023). As a result, whether hate speech is accepted or
challenged depends on the ideological anity or discord it generates among those it targets (Abuín-Vences, Cuesta-Cambra,
Niño-González & Bengochea-González, 2022).
erefore, othering and ideology function in tandem within hate speech, such that they can be classied according to the
referential framework of beliefs from which they derive and by how they select and articulate dierences to construct otherness.
LGBT+ individuals have historically and systematically been targets of exclusion, repression, and oppression in
cisheteronormative societies due to the transgression they represent to the dominant ideology and structure (Brito, 2023;
Martel, 2013; Mendoza-Pérez, Trejo-Hernández, Olmedo-Neri, Vega-Cauich, Lozano-Verduzco & Craig, 2023). In this context,
the Internet serves as a space and tool where this unfavorable power dynamic can either be replicated or recalibrated. As sex-
gender dissidents gain access to innovative defense strategies and symbolic disarticulation, they are able to level the playing
eld with their adversaries (Bolz, 2006; Olmedo Neri, 2022; Martel, 2013).
e contingent capacity to reproduce or dismantle hate speech on the Internet lies in the information circuits that, despite
their opposition, nd their own causes to guarantee their (re)production. On one hand, the proliferation of sources and
narratives, and on the other, the boundlessness of the digital space, enable antagonistic discourses to establish ongoing loops
of monological rearmation (Bolz, 2006). Hate speech against LGBT+ individuals on the Internet is stimulated, among other
factors, by the disembodied nature of online communication, the anonymity aorded to perpetrators, the legitimisation of
violence seeking digital expansion, and the distortion of the right to digital freedom of expression to justify intolerance (Díaz
Hernández, 2020; Martínez Valerio, 2021; Rivera-Martín, Martínez Bartolomé Rincón & López López, 2022). Furthermore, hate
speech against LGBT+ individuals is articulated with misinformation; because only through it can its promoters challenge
their agenda and rights and foster their growing legitimacy in everyday life.
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Since the mid-20th century, there has been a growing trend in the West towards legitimising LGBT+ populations in everyday
life. However, conservative activism has simultaneously gained momentum in attempting to halt this cultural, social, and
political progress (Inglehart et al., 2021). In Latin America, the legitimacy of LGBT+ populations has been achieved through
their political inuence at the (sub)national level and through soft activism in culture and communication elds, which seek
to recalibrate the negative symbolic burden imposed on them (Corrales, 2021; Olmedo Neri, 2021, 2022). Paradoxically, the
anti-LGBT+ rights movement has also gained momentum in recent years in this region, often aligning with religious symbolic
frameworks to legitimise its inuence over the social imaginaries of each country (Blanco-Echeverry, 2022). Consequently, the
presence of the anti-rights movement encourages individuals who resonate with its frameworks to produce and disseminate
hate speech in their everyday and digital spaces.
Hate speech against LGBT+ populations can overlap online and oine, intensifying the sense of oppression and exacerbating
its eects on the mental health and social well-being of these individuals (
Ș
tef
ă
ni
ță
& Buf, 2021). While such speech depends
on the socio-cultural and political context to ensure its framing and eectiveness, it maintains the same ideological core. It
pursues the same objective regardless of whether it occurs in digital or non-digital spaces.
At its ideological core, this speech is constructed and dened from a cisheteronormative perspective, which imposes the
cisgender-heterosexual alignment as the only valid framework for sex-gender identity through which individuals can
construct, perceive, and participate in the world. Consequently, anyone who challenges this ideological framework is viewed
as a potential threat to the
status quo
(Moreno López & Morales Calvo, 2022; Paulo da Silva & Souza da Silva, 2021).
e aim of hate speech against LGBT+ individuals is to invalidate their increasing legitimacy in everyday life and undermine
their position of enunciation. To achieve this, othering (re)produces stereotypes rooted in cisheteronormative and religious
frameworks morally discrediting LGBT+ individuals to justify the repertoires of violence used against them (Paulo da Silva &
Souza da Silva, 2021). In this way, these discourses acquire the following dimensions on the Internet:
1.
Individuals become user-operators, with their technological skills enabling them to act as producers, consumers, and
managers of hate speech (Gomes Dantas & Pereira Neto, 2015; Paulo da Silva & Souza da Silva, 2021).
2.
e networked structure of the Internet facilitates connections among individuals with shared ideological anities,
allowing them to create autonomous spaces where they can rearm their referential frameworks and reinforce the distance
established by othering (De-Casas-Moreno, Pareja-Cuéllar & Vizcaíno-Verdú, 2023).
3.
Proponents of hate speech against LGBT+ individuals exploit digital anonymity to perpetuate this symbolic violence,
distancing themselves from the repercussions of their actions and evading criticism from those advocating for sociocultural
transformations in support of sex-gender dissidents on a local-global level (
Ș
tef
ă
ni
ță
& Buf, 2021).
4.
e impact of hate speech becomes deterretorialised as the Internet removes geographical distances, allowing these
discourses to extend their reach to individuals far removed from the contexts that other them.
5.
Hate speech moves beyond textual/oral manifestations to utilise audiovisual/narrative formats circulating on the Internet,
strategically positioning itself within content circuits.
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Although the essence of hate speech remains unchanged regardless of the medium, its eects are nuanced depending on
whether it exists in isolation
from
or is convergent
with
the digital space. If hate speech appears in a single context, its impact
may be mitigated or dismantled by the actions available to individuals within that specic setting. erefore, it is crucial to
problematise the manifestation of hate speech on the Internet and explore how LGBT+ individuals confront it.
1.2. Digital Communicative Practices
Although research on hate speech on the Internet emphasises its modes of production and dissemination models, there has
been limited exploration of the mechanisms that the digital space oers to marginalised individuals for re-signifying and
dismantling such speech.
Analysing the use of the Internet and socio-digital platforms in a counter-hegemonic manner implies articulating the
operational skills and intangible abilities that individuals employ to intervene in information circuits, challenge hate speech
and oer (self)representations that destabilise the consensus of the dominant ideology within the social imaginary (Parra,
2021). ese aspects are recognised by the communicational perspective, making their use both enriching and strategic in any
study related to the subject-technology relationship on the Internet (Gómez Cruz, 2022; Olmedo Neri, 2023).
e communicational perspective is transdisciplinary and does not prioritise either the subject or technology within a social
phenomenon. Instead, it emphasises their dialogic-dialectical relationship to analyse their dynamics, assemblages, and
implications within specic material and socio-historical conditions (Craig, 1999; Giménez, 2011; Miège, 2015). e subject-
technology relationship is a pact that manifests in various ways, inuenced by the possibilities, negotiations, and resistances
encountered as technology is integrated into an individual’s daily life. Consequently, this relationship is heterogeneous and
historically anchored to the contextual conditions of its framing and development (Gómez Cruz, 2022).
From the communicational perspective, systemic inequalities can either be reproduced or disrupted on the Internet due to the
general conditions provided to users by its architectures and interfaces. In the context of online hate speech, its producers not
only amplify its impact by exploiting the underlying logics of socio-digital platforms, but those marginalised by such speech
also nd opportunities within these same logics to confront it.
From a communicational perspective, it is acknowledged that individuals do not simply do whatever they want on the Internet;
rather, their actions are constrained by the technological structure in place. e individual’s creativity introduces a subaltern
dimension to the uses predetermined by the network designers (Bucher & Heldmont, 2018; Olmedo Neri, 2022). erefore,
the communicational perspective does not assume that individuals merely
use
technology in a vacuum. Instead, it recognises
that their actions are enabled by the functionalities provided by interfaces and their recognition of these functions as viable
resources for achieving specic goals. is convergent negotiation and techno-social appropriation process is dened as
digital communicative practice.
Digital communicative practice refers to a strategy employed by individuals to achieve specic goals through the frequent,
simultaneous, or asynchronous use of one or more ICT(s) and the Internet. is digital communicative practice is rooted in the
experience of the subject-technology relationship and the knowledge gained through new uses over time. As individuals rene
their digital communicative practice, they reduce execution time, improve resource management, and enhance the expected/
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achieved outcomes. Consequently, digital communicative practices are shaped by the individual’s needs and realities and are
inuenced by the cultural forms they acquire and manifest (Gómez Cruz, 2022; Olmedo Neri, 2023).
Digital communicative practices developed by LGBT+ individuals represent a specic eld that has garnered attention in
recent years due to their counter-hegemonic nature. A primary objective of these practices is to dismantle/challenge the
ideological core of cisheteronormativity, which legitimises their systemic oppression in everyday life (Martel, 2013; Wuest,
2014).
rough the Internet, LGBT+ individuals can dismantle the cisheteronormative oppression they face in non-digital contexts by
collaboratively constructing safe and counter-hegemonic spaces, expanding or reinforcing their social support networks and
producing and disseminating counter-hegemonic narratives that reclaim their sex-gender identity (Hanckel, Vivienne, Byron,
Robards & Churchill, 2019; Olmedo Neri, 2023; Parra, 2021). Additionally, LGBT+ individuals can lter content and set criteria
for socialisation online to minimise the likelihood of encountering hate speech or interacting with those who promote it.
In addition to the possibilities of (inter)action, LGBT+ individuals leverage the operational logics of socio-digital platforms to
create safe spaces and navigate networks to keep cishteteronormative perspectives at bay from their hybrid lives (Martel, 2013;
Olmedo Neri, 2021). is is crucial because LGBT+ individuals perceive the Internet not only as a tool for connecting with
others but also as a space to occupy and re-signify, analogous to a public square or space, due to the symbolic contestation that
unfolds there (Olmedo Neri, 2023 Wuest, 2014).
erefore, it is essential to identify and analyse the digital communicative practices developed by LGBT+ youth to understand
their objectives and the resulting implications.
2. Method and Materials
e method of experience systematisation was employed because it analyses not only the subject but also their perspective
and worldview within which they operate (Mera, 2019). erefore, this method allows for the integration of the subject’s
place of enunciation with their experiences and the meanings they acquire/construct
with
and
through
ICTs and the Internet
(Orozco Gómez & González Reyes, 2011).
An online survey was designed and distributed through socio-digital platforms between January and March 2023. e criteria
for participation were as follows: 1) self-identifying publicly or personally as part of an LGBT+ community, 2) recognising a
hostile context in their place of residence, 3) holding a university education degree or higher, or 4) being between the ages of
18 and 29
3
.
3
Each criterion is crucial, identifying as part of the LGBT+ community implies an acknowledgment of one’s subaltern position, assessing the hostility within their
common contexts allows for an exploration of how the Internet is redened as a space of counterpower; the educational level not only expands young people’s
social networks by providing connections with individuals from dierent contexts but also oers access to theoretical discussions where gender non-conformities
are both visible and politicised; and the age dimension reects how, over time, young people gain increasing autonomy within their family units, allowing them
to undertake various activities without parental supervision.
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irty LGBT+ youth were registered, all of whom reported having strategies to prevent and confront potential hate speech
targeting their sex-gender dissent. However, 15 of the participants indicated that they had encountered or been the recipients
of or had encountered hate speech on the Internet. Consequently, the research focused on these individuals due to their direct
experiences with symbolic violence. A semi-structured interview was developed to specically address these experiences,
investigate the eectiveness of their strategies in real situations and identify the digital communicative practices developed to
counteract hate speech.
Semi-structured interviews enhance the epistemological coherence of this qualitative research by allowing the researcher
and the interviewee to establish a exible interaction process, enabling a deeper exploration of the empirical manifestations
related to the study’s objectives (Fontana & Frey, 2015).
It should be noted that these young people do not hold prominent roles in the public sphere or within LGBT+ activism in
Mexico. is factor conceals signicant analytical depth: lacking such recognition, these LGBT+ youths reveal how oppression
is contingent on their experiences and how the threat of being subjected to violence (un)consciously contributes to shapìng
their digital communicative practices against hate speech.
Finally, the LGBT+ youths who participated in the interview possess the following characteristics: 1) eight identify as gay, one
as lesbian, two as bisexual, two as trans, and two as queer
4
2) their ages range from 18 to 28 years old, 3) they describe their
place of residence as rural (three), semi-rural (three), semi-urban (four) and urban (ve) and 4) most are either pursuing a
bachelor’s degree or are recent graduates.
3. Results
Based on the information gathered from the interviews, it was observed that the LGBT+ youth experiences are shaped
and lived through dynamics that oscillate between acceptance and violence, and integration and exclusion. Regardless of
geographical and territorial distances, these young people confront the same hate speech, which tends to dissipate in urban
areas due to their cosmopolitan nature or intensify in rural areas where sociocultural frameworks are more insular and
cisheteronormativity has a stronger structural hold. As a result, these young people experience a relationship of domination
sustained by the adult-centric nature of contemporary society. is dynamic subjects them and their cis-heterosexual peers
to a systemic invalidation of their place of enunciation under the adult gaze. In terms of oppression, LGBT+ youth experience
at least two types: the rst. termed selective oppression, targets or identies those young people who do not conform to the
hegemonic sex-gender identity (cis heterosexual), so that they can be subsequently subjected to violence. e second form
of oppression is dierentiated because although all LGBT+ youth challenge the mandates of the dominant ideologies, the
violence they endure varies based on the degree of disobedience to the cisheteronorm. us, the more transgressive their
4
While gay, lesbian, bisexual and queer youth identied as cisgender, trans youth simultaneously identied as heterosexual. Emphasising the intersection of
sex and identity is essential because it is the only way to expose the inequalities embodied in the sex-gender articulation that society expects and imposes;
cisheterosexuality.
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sex-gender identity is, the greater the violence they endure (Mendoza-Pérez, Trejo-Hernández, Olmedo-Neri, Vega-Cauich,
Lozano-Verduzco & Craig, 2023).
e interviewed youths indicated that hate speech has been present at various stages in their lives. However, upon identifying
themselves as dissenters from cisheteronormativity, they become marked by the dominant ideology, triggering processes that
alter both their worldview and the way society views them. e following experience illustrates this shift:
Until I was 20, I didn’t fully feel like myself, as I didn’t publicly identify as homosexual. I knew it would have profound implications for
my life, so that was the initial impact. And when I nally decided to come out, I faced repercussions, friends and even family members
stopped talking to me. It was very shocking for me […]; I also didn’t know the extent of the stigma associated with identifying as a
member of the LGBT+ community because I see it as an act in which society exposes you… I stopped being seen as an exemplary
young person which I was before because I did athletics and won medals, all of that was a source of pride. Besides, I entered UNAM
[National Autonomous University of Mexico]. So, they were things that made me stand out as a person. So, the moment, I came out
as non-heterosexual, everything changed (Young Queer individual, personal communication).
ese constraints result from selected and dierentiated oppression, as they stun the individual by destabilising their
ontological safety and reframe their achievements in the context of the violence now directed at them. Consequently, the
interviewed LGBT+ youth often reject digital friendship with family or neighbours; adjust the privacy settings of their proles
and the visibility of their content or even maintain multiple accounts on the same platform. All of these measures are taken to
exclude those who perpetuate oppression and to safeguard their autonomy on the Internet.
However, these elements are signicant because the experiences reveal that hate speech is expressed in heterogeneous ways
as a result of the various formats the content adopts and the sender’s adaptive methods. Figure 1 summarises the elements of
hate speech identied and confronted by LGBT+ youth.
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Figure 1. Elements of Hate Speech on the Internet
Figure 1:
Elements
of Hate Speech on the Internet
Source: created by the author
As observed, the
essence
of hate speech on the Internet is hybridised with
various
(audio)visual
formats, techno
-
operational logics and
how
individuals
present
themselves
in the digital space. Specifically, online hate speech
encountered
(in)directly
arises
from
1) individuals with weak social
ties
to the LGBT+ youth (such as extended family
members
, exclusive online contacts or individuals whose
interaction
s have
diminished
over time for
various
reasons), 2) a few cases of LGBT+ individuals
replicate
hate speech
they have
been
internalised in a (un)conscious way and 3) as reported by most
participants
, anonymous users.
A
significant
finding
is
the internalised hate speech expressed by individuals within sex
-
gender dissident groups
.
Some of these cases are
evident
, for instance, in LGBT+ groups
on the Internet. The following experience
illustrates
this nuanced form of hate, which is
nonetheless
rooted
in the invalidation of others.
I used to be in a [fandom] group for Camila Cabello, and
sometimes,
discussions about
her sexuality would come up. Even within the LGBT+ community, people can be
biphobic [by commenting or writing]: No
!
How can she like both men and women! In
this group, there are many people, and there can be transphobic
comments
…
generally,
there
are hate speech
issues
. What I do [when I see this] is report it because Facebook
Source: created by the author
As observed, the essence of hate speech on the Internet is hybridised with various (audio)visual formats, techno-operational
logics and how individuals present themselves in the digital space. Specically, online hate speech encountered (in)directly
arises from 1) individuals with weak social ties to the LGBT+ youth (such as extended family members, exclusive online
contacts or individuals whose interactions have diminished over time for various reasons), 2) a few cases of LGBT+ individuals
replicate hate speech they have been internalised in a (un)conscious way and 3) as reported by most participants, anonymous
users.
A signicant nding is the internalised hate speech expressed by individuals within sex-gender dissident groups. Some of
these cases are evident, for instance, in LGBT+ groups on the Internet. e following experience illustrates this nuanced form
of hate, which is nonetheless rooted in the invalidation of others.
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I used to be in a [fandom] group for Camila Cabello, and sometimes, discussions about her sexuality would come up. Even within the
LGBT+ community, people can be biphobic [by commenting or writing]: No! How can she like both men and women! In this group,
there are many people, and there can be transphobic comments… generally, there are hate speech issues. What I do [when I see this]
is report it because Facebook specically provides tools [to ag] that it is hate speech. But, they often don’t consider it hate speech,
though sometimes they do, and delete it (young Queer individual, 21 years old, personal communication).
e distancing caused by hate speech within the LGBT+ community results from the alienation imposed by the dominant
ideology, which leads those who internalise violence to justify it against other subaltern communities with similar marginal
statuses. Reporting such incidents demonstrates the empowered agency that young people acquire through the Internet when
confronted with such acts, which, under dierent circumstances, might otherwise remain unpunished or even be justied.
In this context, the eort to deploy mechanisms to prevent hate speech from taking root and/or being replicated in their
digital spaces is understandable
5
. Participants specically reported that most of the hate speech they encountered (in)directly
is constructed from a cisheteronormative perspective and is often framed within religious contexts, predominately Catholic,
owing to its sociocultural relevance in Mexico.
eir digital communication practices aim to collaboratively construct safe spaces while simultaneously being a safe space for
other subaltern users marginalised due to their sex-gender dissent. e following explanation reects this shared emancipatory
nature:
[I] see the Internet as an indispensable tool because through the Internet I know what I know, I have met very interesting people, [I’ve
learned about] extraordinary cases that make me reect on the fact that we constantly live under the threat of people who are not
right in the head, who judge us, without having any idea of what we are, that we are equal and that it is entirely normal. e Internet
has helped me access more than one opinion and know more (young Bisexual individual, 19 years old, personal communication).
e counter-hegemonic distribution of narratives from the LGBT+ perspective erodes and challenges the ideological framework
of cisheteronormativity to the extent of reversing power dynamics: LGBT+ youth cease to view themselves as the culprits of
the violence they experience and begin to recognise the collaboration of the dominant structure and ideology that perpetuate
their oppression. erefore, the need to be and create safe spaces lies not only in the possibility of convergence but also in the
ability to reclaim their sex-gender identity on the Internet. Consequently, the digital space emerges as a strategic place; as one
interviewee put it, “I believe that [the Internet is important] at least for those who are just starting out, so they don’t feel alone
and so that part of [LGBT+ communities] becomes normalised, making them increasingly visible” (young Bisexual individual,
22 years old, personal communication).
As observed, there is a collaborative spirit among these youth aimed at preventing other LGBT+ users from experiencing
similar hardships. Making their stories of resistance and (re) existence visible acts as an implicit mechanism to reveal their
5
e device most frequently used by participants are mobile phones as they represent a higher degree of technological personalisation. ey received their rst
mobile phone between the ages of 10 and 16 from their parents to maintain contact despite physical distance. For these young people, mobile phones become a
symbol of their autonomy from parental authority and marks the beginning of their adolescence; it solidies its role as the central hub from which they manage
and experience their youth.
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subaltern position within an adult-centric and cisheteronormative society. One particular way of being or creating a safe space
is by constructing and/or strengthening their social support networks on the Internet. ese networks consist of contacts who
provide ongoing emotional and social support to LGBT+. Individuals. Social support networks foster the collective trust that
mitigates the impact of cisheteronormative oppression, delegitimises hate speech and even contributes to dismantling it by
allowing users to participate in actions such as calling out/cancelling
6
those who perpetuate othering and/or the dominant
ideology. In summary, social support networks oer ontological safety and alleviate the existential crisis brought about by
cisheteronormativity at various stages of LGBT+ individuals’ lives (Olmedo Neri, 2022).
On the other hand, given that they have most frequently encountered or been the recipients of hate speech in non-digital
contexts, LGBT+ youth strive to reframe their proles as safe spaces for themselves and for other dissenters against
hetereonormativity. Among these eorts is the creation of groups on various platforms such as Facebook; although important,
these types of actions have not been immune to such violence:
One of the [groups] where I was most active and still am, though I no longer post as much and comment less often- is Foro Trans World
on Facebook; it is not only intended for trans individuals but also, for example, partners or family members seeking support. Often,
they accept new members into the group, only for those members to intimidate the other members. Fortunately, the administrators
and moderators do a good job of banning those who join groups to provoke, mock or inltrate information (young Trans individuals,
28 years old, personal communication).
is experience in collective spaces can also be mirrored in individual interactions. e Trans youth mentioned that, on one
occasion, after challenging hate speech on socio-media platforms, “a user who had posted one of these hateful comments
later sent me a direct message and even threatened to kill me”. ese dimensions highlight the extent to which such speech
can manifest itself when anonymity and digital distance mediate the interaction, concealing the sender and heightening the
vulnerability of the recipient.
As previously noted, the most common type of perpetrator encountered by LGBT+ youth is one who uses fake proles to spread
hate speech or send direct messages to LGBT+ young people. e following experience illustrates this latter form of behaviour:
I had forgotten about the rst [message] until a few months ago when I checked my prole and messages. It said that I was a faggot,
queer, and so on… and well, now it doesn’t aect me as much because it’s minimal [the impact]. It seems that after seeing my prole,
the person sent a message and then deleted [their account] or blocked me (young gay person, 23 years old, personal communication).
e textual or audiovisual forms of hate speech constructed on the Internet undermine LGBT+ youth’s self-esteem, invalidate
their sex-gender identity in everyday life, and adversely aect their mental health by attributing the violence they experience
to their perceived failure to conform to cisheteronormative mandates (Mendoza-Pérez, Trejo-Hernández, Olmedo-Neri, Vega-
Cauich, Lozano-Verduzco & Craig, 2023; Rivera-Martin, Martínez de Bartolomé Rincón & López López, 2022).
6
Public denunciation made by individuals through social media platforms involve exposing individuals, groups, pages whose indirect or direct actions are grounded
in hate speech or othering, or who, through inaction, promote unethical or morally reprehensible practices such as harassment, corruption, negligence, among
others. e aim of calling out/cancelling someone is to collectively and publicly highlight the negative symbolic impact of their behaviour, thereby confronting
socially unacceptable behaviour.
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In response to hate speech sent anonymously in the digital environment, young people have developed a repertoire of digital
communication practices to mitigate the negative impacts on themselves and restrict their visibility in their respective digital
spaces. ey often block users and delete such messages immediately, though the interface can sometimes play an ambivalent
role in this process. e following experience illustrates this complexity:
…But in Clash [Royale], which is a gaming group, people of all ages join from all over the world, and it is entirely anonymous, and
that’s where hate speech really comes through. Like, people would join and post things like “Fucking gays blah blah blah…” horrible
stu and then they’d leave, you’d start to think, surely they’re just kids, right? Because sometimes they couldn’t even spell correctly
and would just leave (young Lesbian individual, 25 years old, personal communication).
erefore, anonymity, the eeting nature of the content, the operational logic of each interface, and the lack of traceability of
actions are factors that complicate the dynamics of hate speech on the Internet (Rivera Martín, Martínez de Bartolomé Rincón
& López López, 2022).
Regardless of the individual or the communicative practice employed, hate speech and othering are symbolically deconstructed
by the anonymity of their sender, the strength/weakness of the connection with the LGBT+ youth, and the operational logics
they exploit on the Internet. e following testimony illustrates this loss of legitimacy stemming from the anonymity of the
source:
I generally feel that this is anonymous. If it is anonymous, I would just block them; I feel like you have to choose your battles, and there’s
no point. You don’t even know who it is, how old they are, why they are doing it… I would just block them; I wouldn’t try anything
else. But if it were someone I know, it would depend a lot on what they say and how open they are to listening or having a discussion
or talking. I try to raise awareness a little. But if it’s just blind hatred and you denitely can’t start a conversation, then I think if it’s
someone I know, I would publicly burn them and block them” (young Lesbian individual, 25 years old, personal communication).
LGBT+ youth report that the anonymity of online users indirectly reinforces the notion that these actions are socially discredited,
prompting them to conceal their identity. As a result, when these young people are directly targeted by anonymous attacks or
encounter hate speech within their information networks, they tend to downplay its importance by recalibrating its negative
symbolic weight and blocking the sender. In this way, the sense of security provided by their support networks and digital
spaces enables them to reduce the harmful impact of hate speech, challenge its ideological core, and discredit its source.
Finally, one of the most transgressive digital practices involves creating an anonymous account to join groups where hate
speech is produced and confront those spreading it. e following experience is particularly insightful:
I have two proles on Facebook (..). I use the other prole anonymously, and sometimes I go on because I feel like arguing; I’ve seen
[open] Catholic groups to observe their perspective. And if I can comment or discuss [LGBT+] issues, I do. (young Gay individual, 21
years old, personal communication).
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Figure 2 shows the prole used by this young person to challenge the ideological core of hate speech produced and legitimised
within a conservative and public group
7
.
Figure. 2. Hate Speech on the Internet and Forms of Containment
En Facebook tengo 2 perfiles
(…).
E
l otro perfil lo uso como anónimo y sí me he metido a
veces, porque me dan ganas de pelear, y sí he visto grupos católicos
[abiertos]
para ver esa
perspectiva. Y de pronto
,
si puedo yo comentar o discutir esto [lo LGBT+], pues sí [lo hago]
(
joven
G
ay, 21 años, comunicación personal)
.
La Figura 2 muestra el perfil que emplea este joven para cuestionar el núcleo ideológico del
discurso de odio
producido
y legitimado en un grupo conservador
y
público
7
.
Figura.
2
. Discurso de odio en Internet y forma de contención
Fuente:
a
portación de joven entrevistado
El discurso de odio se expresa de manera textual a través de la publicación
;
en
la Figura 2 se
muestra el nombre de dicho grupo, así como la articulación del sentido conservador, jurídico
y religioso para construir el núcleo ideológico y el de otrificación del discurso de odio. El
joven emplea un perfil falso para cuestionar la validez de la otrificación y su mensaje es
confrontado
por otros usuarios que sintonizan con ese marco ideológico; la importancia de
esta práctica comunicativa digital radica en el conocimiento del joven para construir un perfil
que
emula
las lógicas de aquellos
usuarios
a favor del discurso de odio
,
con el fin de
mantener su anonimato y garantizar su seguridad en Internet. Una foto de perfil que retoma
un meme y el uso de argumentos científico
-sociales
para desarticular el discurso forma parte
de una práctica comunicativa digital que implica
:
1) un mayor cono
cimiento
y dominio sobre
las
herramientas
tecno-
operativas que ofrece la plataforma, 2) un empoderamiento adquirido
mediante el dispositivo tecnológico, la interfaz e Internet, y 3) un ejercicio para recalibrar
las asimetrías de poder que sustentan su opresión cotidiana.
Esta
diversidad de estrategias
ϳ
De acuerdo con los entrevistados, Facebook y Twitter son las plataformas con mayor circulación de discursos
de odio; esto puede deberse a que se ha
n
vuelto espacio
s
donde la participación de adultos ha incrementado;
por ello es que las juventudes han migrado a Instagram en busca de espacios autónomos de socialización; los
jóvenes LGBT+ indican que en Instagram es donde
ven
con mayor frecuencia contenido positivo sobre las
disidencias sexogenéricas.
Source: provided by a young interviewee
Hate speech is expressed textually through online posts; in Figure 2, the name of the group is shown, alongside the articulation
of conservative, legal, and religious frameworks that shape the ideological core and othering elements of the hate speech. e
young person uses a fake prole to challenge the validity of this othering, and their message is met with resistance from users
aligned with this ideological framework. e signicance of this digital communicative practice lies in the young person’s
ability to create a prole that mimics the logic of users who support this hate speech, allowing them to remain anonymous
and ensure their safety online. A prole picture featuring a meme and the use of socio-scientic arguments to dismantle
hate speech are key components of this digital communicative practice, which involves: 1) an advanced understanding
7
According to the interviewees, Facebook and Twitter are the platforms where hate speech circulates the most. is may due to the increased participation of
adults on these platforms. As a result, young users have migrated to Instagram in search of more autonomous socialisation spaces, LGBT+ youth report that
Instagram is where they encounter more positive content about sex-gender dissidences.
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and mastery of the platform’s techno-operational tools, 2) a sense of empowerment gained through technological devices,
interfaces, and the Internet, and 3) an eort to recalibrate the power asymmetries that sustain their daily oppression. e
diversity of strategies implicitly shows the extent to which the logics of the Internet can be leveraged to expand their means of
confronting hate speech.
Figure 3 sysnthesises the articulations of hate speech and the containment strategies used by LGBT+. Youth.
Figure. 3. Hate Speech and Digital Communicative Practices
asymmetries that
sustain
their daily oppression. The
diversity
of strategies implicitly
shows the extent to which the
logics
of the Internet can be leveraged to
expand
their
me
ans of confronting hate speech.
Figure
3
sysnthesises
the articulations of hate speech and the containment strategies used
by LGBT+. Youth.
Figure
.
2
. Hate Speech and Digital
Communicative
Practices
Source
: created by the author
The use of digital
communicative
practices are guided by their
prior
effectiveness and the
way
in which hate speech manifests. Consequently, the definition and selection of
strategies are influenced by the
creativity
and experience each LGBT+
individual
contributes to addressing these forms of symbolic violence on the Internet.
4.
Discussion
On the Internet, the balance of power is not defined by an individual’s inherent position
of power or subalternity
,
but by their skill in using techno
-
operational dynamics to their
advantage. As a result, power asymmetries are recalibrated by the equal techno
-
operational conditions accessible to users.
Therefore
, a greater and more nuanced
understanding
of technology allows LGBT+ youth to leverage these tools effectively,
thereby
empowering
them
to confront those who propagate hate speech online.
Both LGBT+ youth and anti
-
rights groups coexist within the Internet's communicative
chaos, and it is only when their boundaries intersect or their members interact that
Source: created by the author
e use of digital communicative practices are guided by their prior eectiveness and the way in which hate speech manifests.
Consequently, the denition and selection of strategies are inuenced by the creativity and experience each LGBT+ individual
contributes to addressing these forms of symbolic violence on the Internet.
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4. Discussion
On the Internet, the balance of power is not dened by an individual’s inherent position of power or subalternity, but by their
skill in using techno-operational dynamics to their advantage. As a result, power asymmetries are recalibrated by the equal
techno-operational conditions accessible to users. erefore, a greater and more nuanced understanding of technology allows
LGBT+ youth to leverage these tools eectively, thereby empowering them to confront those who propagate hate speech online.
Both LGBT+ youth and anti-rights groups coexist within the Internet’s communicative chaos, and it is only when their
boundaries intersect or their members interact that dynamics of tension and conict arise. erefore, communicative practices
take on a particular meaning (Bolz, 2006).
In summary, the impact of hate speech on the Internet is inuenced by 1) the social connection between the LGBT+ youth
and the sender, 2) the format in which the hate speech is delivered, and 3) the utilisation of the techno-operational logics of
mobile devices and the Internet for the propagation or containment of hate speech. erefore, these practices hinge not only
on the individual’s capacity for agency but also on their ability to exploit the techno-operational capabilities provided by
technological devices and digital spaces. e communicational perspective shows how the subject-technology relationship
manifests uniquely, addressing the needs and contexts of specic social groups (Gómez Cruz, 2022).
erefore, if the connection between the individual endorsing hate speech and the LGBT+ youth is weak, the oppressive eect
of the speech will be lessened and may even lose its eectiveness. is is the case with digital hate speech, as its symbolic
violence is undermined because most perpetrators promote it from digital anonymity. ese ndings are consistent with
Ș
tef
ă
ni
ță
’s and Buf’s (2021), which suggest a correlation between online hate speech and anonymity.
is quantitative dimension has a qualitative explanation: the anonymity of hate speech online underscores its lack of social
legitimacy, causing its oppressive function to fragment and dissipate on the Internet. Consequently, the absence of public
acknowledgement for those who propagate hate speech in the digital space unintentionally lessens its negative symbolic
impact and deconstructs its cisheteronormative ideological core. e digital anonymity of hate speech perpetrators coupled
with the visible advocacy of LGBT+ individuals oine and online reects a reconguration of social imaginaries and a shift in
power dynamics globally in favour of subaltern groups (Corrales, 2021; Inglehart et al., 2021; Martel, 2013).
When faced with hate speech through their digital contacts, LGBT+ youth take direct actions to highlight the negative symbolic
impact of such messages, aiming to prompt the individual to reconsider and abandon their cisheteronormative ideology. If
these eorts do not lead to a positive change, these LGBT+ youth may choose to sever their social connection with those who
pose a latent threat to their sense of security and autonomy, which they seek to establish within their proles. In extreme cases,
instead of deleting these contacts, they may adjust their privacy and content visibility settings to create an illusion of control
and surveillance for these individuals. In reality, these users are excluded from the safe space created by the LGBT+ youth and
their information circuit.
In addition to the above, socio-digital platforms and their operational logic mitigate power asymmetries by granting LGBT+
youth greater control over their digital environment. With this increased control, they can 1) set criteria for evaluating whom
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to engage with through their proles, 2) apply lters to determine what content to view/consume and 3) design strategies for
addressing hate speech.
Clearly, LGBT+ youth cannot confront the potentially violent context in which they navigate on their own. However, they
can keep these factors at bay within their digital presence to prevent cisheteronormative perspectives from inltrating their
proles and disrupting their online youth experience.
us, LGBT+ individuals develop digital communicative practices to establish themselves as safe spaces for others who dissent
from cisheteronormativity while also creating a secure environment for themselves. Analytically, these digital communicative
practices share a common goal: to provide existential security to LGBT+ individuals by being and creating safe spaces for both
themselves and others who partially or fully share their experience and/or sex-gender dissent. is objective is consistent with
ndings from other studies on LGBT+ youth and the Internet (Hanckel, Vivienne, Byron, Robards & Churchill, 2019; Olmedo
Neri, 2022; Parra, 2021; Wuest, 2014). However, it is the specic contexts in which these practices are situated that imbue them
with a distinct ontological signicance.
ese practices can be categorised into two domains: a productive eld and an agency eld. In the productive eld, LGBT+
leverage interface tools to create a safe space. In the eld of agency, LGBT+ youth use techno-operational logics to minimise
the impact of hate speech and its perpetrators on their digital experience. Figure 4 presents a categorisation of the identied
practices.
Figure 4. Digital Communicative Practices
Clearly, LGBT+ youth cannot confront the potentially violent context in which they
navigate on their own. However, they can keep these factors at bay
within
their digital
presence to prevent cisheteronormative
perspectives
from
infiltrating
their profiles and
disrupting their online youth experience.
Thus, LGBT+
individuals
develop digital
communicative
practices to
establish
themselves as safe
spaces
for others who dissent
from
cisheteronormativity
while also
creating a secure environment for themselves. Analytically,
these
digital
communicative
practices share a common goal: to provide existential
security
to LGBT+
individuals
by
being and creating safe spaces for both
them
selves and others who partially or
fully
share
their experience and/or sex
-
gender di
ssent
. This objective is consistent with
findings
from
other
studies
on
LGBT+ youth and the Internet (Hanckel, Vivienne, Byron, Robards &
Churchill, 2019; Olmedo Neri, 2022; Parra, 2021; Wuest, 2014).
However
, it is the
specific contexts in which t
hese
practices
are situated
that
imbue them with a
distinct
ontological
significance.
These
practices can be
categorised
into
two domains: a productive field and an agency
field. In the productive
field
, LGBT+ leverage interface tools to create a safe space. In
the field of agency, LGBT+ youth
use
techno-
operational logic
s
to minimise the impact
of hate speech and its
perpetrators
on their digital experience. Figure 4
presents
a
categorisation
of the
identified
practices
.
Figur
e 4. Digital
Communicative
Practices
Source: created by the author
Each digital communicative practice is shaped by the individual's material, cultural, and
historical particularities. Therefore, this framework does not suggest a sequential logic
but rather illustrates the complexity of the subject
-
technology relationship from which
these practices emerge.
Consequently
, these practices
may
manifest either in isolation or
in convergence, depending on the needs,
objectives
, and skills of the
individual
employing them.
These digital
communicative
practices are counter
-
hegemonic from an ideological
standpoint
because they
expose
the symbolic struggle occurring
within
digital space
s
(Olmedo Neri, 2022). On the Internet, individuals
encounter
cisheteronormative
Source: created by the author
Each digital communicative practice is shaped by the individual’s material, cultural, and historical particularities. erefore,
this framework does not suggest a sequential logic but rather illustrates the complexity of the subject-technology relationship
from which these practices emerge. Consequently, these practices may manifest either in isolation or in convergence,
depending on the needs, objectives, and skills of the individual employing them.
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ese digital communicative practices are counter-hegemonic from an ideological standpoint because they expose the symbolic
struggle occurring within digital spaces (Olmedo Neri, 2022). On the Internet, individuals encounter cisheteronormative
surveillance, prompting them to take action against users who empirically challenge this ideology. However, given the
techno-operational capabilities, these users are also subject to surveillance themselves, leading them to resort to anonymity
to distance themselves from their actions, which are increasingly socially discredited (De-Casas-Moreno, Parejo-Cuéllar &
Vizcaíno-Verdú, 2023).
Finally, through digital communicative practices, LGBT+ youth (and adults) hack cisheteronormativity on the Internet and in
everyday life. e initial objective of this research has been demonstrated through the reconguration of power asymmetries
when they are digitalised.
5. Conclusions
is study was conducted to explore how Mexican youth who dissent from cishetereonormaitvity use ICTs and the Internet
when they are victims of digital hate speech. us, the objective was to identify and analyse the strategies employed to confront
those who propagate hate speech on the Internet and to assess the implications of such actions on the power asymmetries
experienced within an adult-centric and cisheteronormative society.
From a communicational perspective, the concept of digital communicative practice was developed to describe how
individuals use ICTs and the Internet to achieve specic goals. Subsequently, a methodological strategy was employed to
capture the experiences of Mexican LGBT+ youth in this domain, ndings that pave the way for exploring a relatively under-
researched thematic area.
e results show that hate speech takes on characteristics unique to the digital context and technological infrastructure where
it is expressed, sometimes diminishing its eectiveness. ose who promote such speech often hide behind anonymity to
avoid facing challenges to a worldview that increasingly lacks social legitimacy. In addition, within this context, LGBT+ youth
demonstrated a range of digital communicative practices that demonstrate the counter-hegemonic uses they make of ICTs and
the Internet within their youth experience.
By analysing how hate speech is presented and the heterogenous ways used to confront it, the following ndings emerged:
1) most hate speech is propagated from anonymous proles, 2) the process of othering and the ideological core of hate
speech dissipates due to the distance created by technological devices between the sender and the receiver, 3) the digital
communicative practices employed aim to be and create safe spaces for the individual and other LGBT+ individuals on the
Internet.
Creating safe spaces involves not only knowledge of the digital environment but also the development of skills to confront hate
speech. In this regard, the most signicant contribution of this study lies not only in the diverse communication practices that
LGBT+ youth have developed through their youth experience to limit the frequency and visibility of hate speech but also in the
reconguration of the power dynamics that underpin hate speech against sex-gender dissidents on the Internet.
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In this way, the Internet and socio-digital platforms serve as tools for combating hate speech- As spaces for socialisation, the
digital environment helps dismantle the core elements of such discourse. It mitigates its negative impact on LGBT+ youth
navigating this space. In other words, the spatial and social distance aorded by the Internet reduces the symbolic violence
inherent in hate speech.
On the other hand, the techno-operative logics of platforms reveal the duality of technology in contemporary society.
Technological innovations can legitimise violence or recalibrate power asymmetries depending on the individual and their
objectives.
Finally, both the theoretical approaches and the ndings of this study provide elements that can be further explored in future
research. ese include analysing specic communities, enhancing the identied digital communicative practices, and using
a communication perspective to problematise how the Internet becomes a battleground for the struggle over recognising
LGBT+ individuals in contemporary societies. It is evident that the prominence of sex-gender dissent in social sciences oers
opportunities to expand and renew understandings of current phenomena such as hate speech.
6. Acknowledgements
is article has been translated by Sophie Phillips, for whom we are grateful for her work.
is work is funded by the doctoral grant (CVU: 487598) granted by the National Council of Humanities, Sciences and
Technologies (CONAHCYT).
7. Conict of interest
e author declares that there is no conict of interest contained in this article.
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