Decoding Language of Social Media Platforms on Genocide: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Ghaza War Posts

Abstract

The present study aims to examine the language of social media platforms to unravel the language that is being used in the narratives of war and ongoing aspects of genocide. Hence, the primary purpose is to identify and analyze the rhetorical strategies and framing devices that are being employed by such platforms to draw the picture of this conflict in front of the whole world. Fairclough's (1996) notion of critical discourse analysis has been used as the framework of this research, while, the sample has been comprised of 90 posts taken from the three particular platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) through purposive sampling. Meanwhile, the content analysis method has been employed to analyze the data. The findings revealed that social media platforms depict the Gaza war as genocide rather than a military conflict. Social media posts use linguistic strategies, historical analogies, and quantified suffering to challenge traditional narratives and increase global awareness.