| Summary: | Hate speech is a phenomenon that affects communication and undermines multicultural society by disrupting intercultural engagement. The internet’s euphoria allows media around the world to witness the troubling rise of vitriolic language. Moving beyond the Euro-America of hate speech phenomenon, cross-cultural nuanced by ethnography has evolved in Malaysia. Therefore, the challenge of protecting against discrimination, dehumanisation, and incitement to violence while preserving individual freedom of expression seems to be contextual when defining hate speech. A series of three different online focus groups which consist of a total of 22 participants were conducted to gather insights from civil society and experts to build concrete definitions and understand the construction of hate speech from a Malaysian perspective. Hence, it tries to explore the extent how social media act as a platform that exacerbates the othering discourse in the online sphere. This study contributes to the academic discussions about the public sphere, and social media in the creation of meaning, discourses, and ensuing cultural and social change, as well as understanding the trajectories across digital spheres by utilising online focus groups for discussion. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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