INTERETHNIC HATE SPEECH IN THE KAZAKHSTANI MEDIA SPACE: THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE “OTHER” IN DIGITAL DISCOURSE

Abstract

This article examines the problem of the escalation of interethnic “hate speech” within Kazakhstan’s digital discourse, with a particular focus on the Instagram platform. The central research problem lies in the destabilization of social consensus as social media transform into spaces of uncontrolled transmission of symbolic violence and the dehumanization of the “Other.” The author argues that contemporary digital platforms function not only as means of communication but also as instruments of “identity policing,” where strategies of internal exclusion (stigmatization based on linguistic and cultural markers) deepen existing sociocultural divides.The author’s theoretical and methodological framework is grounded in an understanding of hate speech as a systemic discursive process of reality construction. Drawing on the concepts of Benedict Anderson and Pierre Bourdieu, the author contends that aggressive speech acts in the digital sphere reflect ongoing struggles for social domination and the legitimation of exclusive forms of identity within a multiethnic society.As possible solutions to the identified problem, the article proposes a shift from reactive technical moderation toward the implementation of a comprehensive socio-political strategy. The author substantiates the need for the systematic reduction of social frustration factors, which serve as primary triggers of aggression in the digital environment, the introduction of preventive mechanisms for fostering a new digital ethics and media literacy, and the adaptation of state policies on social cohesion to the conditions of rapid technological transformation of the media landscape.