Qualitative and Artificial Intelligence-based Sentiment Analyses of Anti-LGBTI+ Hate Speech on Twitter in Turkey

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate hate speech in Turkish LGBTI+-related tweets during a one-month period of artificial intelligence-based sentiment analyses. Turkish tweets related to LGBTI+, were retrieved using Python library Tweepy and were evaluated by sentiment analysis. The researchers then performed a qualitative analysis of the most frequently liked and retweeted tweets (n = 556). Sentiment analysis revealed that 69.5% of tweets were negative, 23.3% were neutral, and 7.2% were positive. The qualitative analysis was grouped under seven themes: LGBTI+ Club; Terrorism and Terrorist Organization Membership; Perversion, Illness, Immorality; Presence in History; Religious References; Insults; and Humiliation. The results of this study show that anti-LGBTI+ hate speech in Turkey is significant in terms of both quality and quantity. As LGBTI+ individuals are at risk for excess mental distress and disorders, it is important to understand the risks and other factors that ameliorate stress and contribute to mental health in social media.

Disclosure statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The authors did not receive any financial support in conducting this study.

Authorship statement confirming

Authors meet the authorship criteria and all authors agree with the content of the manuscript.

Ethics approval and permission

Approval was also granted by the Ethics Committee of the University of Health Sciences Hamidiye Scientific Studies Ethical Committee (date: 30.12.2020, no: E-46418926-050.01.04).

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [GD], upon reasonable request.

Notes

1 LPG stands for liquefied petroleum gas, one of the main automobile fuels used in Turkey.

2 At the time the events took place, Kılıçdaroğlu was the leader of the main opposing political party, and İmamoğlu was the mayor of Istanbul and member of the same opposing political party in Turkey.