The rise of online hate speech in sports is a growing concern, with fans, players and
officials subject to racist, sexist and homophobic abuse (in addition to many other
prejudices) via social media platforms. While hate speech and discrimination have
always been problems in sports, the growth of social media has seen them exacerbated
exponentially. As a consequence, policy makers, sport governing bodies and grassroots
anti-hate organisations are largely left playing catch-up with the rapidly shifting realm of
online hate. Scholars have attempted to fill this vacuum with research into this topic,
but such is the evolving nature of the issue that research has been diverse and
fragmentary. We offer a scoping review into the scholarship of online hate in sport in
order to encourage and facilitate further research into this urgent issue. Our review
will achieve this through offering a comprehensive cataloguing of previously employed
methodologies, case studies and conclusions. In doing so, it will not only equip future
researchers with a concise overview of existing research in the field, but also illuminate
areas and approaches in need of further examination.
Item Type:
Article (Published)
Refereed:
Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:
sport; online hate; social media; scoping review; sport fans