Dipartimento di Filosofia “Piero Martinetti”, Università degli Studi di Milano
26 June 2024, 9.30am-1pm
Sala Martinetti
Billions of social media users are daily exposed to toxic speech, i.e. speech that spreads prejudicial stereotypes and/or endorses discriminatory practices (racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.). Philosophers have pointed out that toxic speech has the potential to shape our normative landscapes by changing the bounds of what is permissible (McGowan 2009, 2019; Tirrell 2012; Lepoutre 2021). These claims are supported by empirical evidence suggesting that toxic speech elicits social exclusion, reduces wellbeing among targets, and promotes prejudice and dehumanizing attitudes in non-targets (Swim et al. 2001; Mullen & Smyth 2004; Carnaghi & Maass 2007; Leader, Mullen, & Rice 2009; Fasoli et al. 2015, 2016; Soral et al. 2018). Against this backdrop, the question of how to resist becomes particularly pressing. This workshop aims to investigate a range of on- and off-line counterspeech strategies, i.e. speech maneuvers and ‘counter-posts’ to mitigate the harmful effects of toxic speech without censoring it. The workshop will adopt an interdisciplinary approach, bringing philosophy of language and computer science in a fruitful dialogue with one another.
Speakers:
Laura Caponetto (University of Cambridge, University of Milan)
Bianca Cepollaro (Vita-Salute San Raffaele University)
Viviana Patti (University of Turin)
