Fine margin between free speech and hate speech at new media: A Case-Study on Twitter

This research aimed to examine the dimensions and contents of hate speech shared on 
the official Twitter accounts of clubs in the fiercely competitive derbies of world 
football. 
In the scope of the research, competitors with intense competition in world football 
and the competitions with the highest competition rate were determined, and the 
Twitter reflections of the matches played by these clubs with each other in 2019 were 
examined on the official Twitter accounts of the clubs. Clubs under examination in the 
Turkish Super League were Fenerbahce and Galatasaray, Manchester United and 
Liverpool from England, Inter and Milan from Italy, Barcelona and Real Madrid from 
Spain, Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund from Germany, Celtic and Rangers from Scotland, Boca Juniors from Argentina and River Plate teams' official Twitter accounts 
were investigated.When total of 18249 tweets were examined the obtained results 
were examined, the intensity of sharing profanity-insulting content did not differ 
according to the countries, but there were differences when the people or teams in 
which these posts were directly considered. While insulting and profanity messages 
towards the opposing team came to the fore in the Turkish Super League, Spain La 
Liga, Argentine League, Italy Serie A and Scottish Premier League, the messages of 
the fans in this category in the English Premier League and the German Bundesliga 
came to the fore because of the hate speech directed to their teams. In humiliating or 
othering the opponent, the Turkish Super League was at the top, and the results in this 
league were similar to Spanish La Liga.