Hate Speech - Everywhere and Coercive

‘Mind your language’, a phrase that has never had more meaning than now when wedges and polarisation are the rule rather than the exception.

Language is the method by which extremists drive their agenda and drive division, and extremist language is appearing everywhere, online of course, but in also in places where passions can be co-opted and redirected. Extremist language is increasingly surfacing in mainstream areas such as anti-immigration protests and in education environments.

Charles Darwin University expert Dr Awni Etaywe is a lecturer in linguistics and a forensic linguistics researcher focusing on terrorism, incitement to hatred, radicalisation and genocide, and digital deviance.

"Extremist messages work by shaping relationships between people. They strengthen connections within the group, creating loyalty and a sense of shared purpose, while at the same time separating the group from outsiders and making them feel like enemies. This kind of messaging can subtly divide society and make people strongly identify with the group. As a result, following the group’s rules - even extreme actions - can feel like proof that someone truly belongs and is loyal,” Dr Etaywe says.

"Extremist language works by hijacking shared values and reframing them as obligations to hate and hurt. Cutting the fuse before violence ignites means dismantling these bonds with education, transparency, and proactive communication.

“There are strategies extremists use to contest bonds before they coerce into violent actions as an obligation.”

The strategies include weaponising divergence where outgroups are not just labelled different. They are framed as immoral and dangerous.

Commonly, extremists encourage intertextuality and repurposing of religious texts. It is not religion itself that incites violence but the ideological repurposing of religious texts.

Polarising bonds through metaphors and kinship terms is another extremist tactic. Inclusive pronouns and kinship terms tighten loyalty and obligation. Exclusive pronouns widen the moral gap and help normalise hostility.

In addition to commands, recommendations, or warnings that instruct an action explicitly, the outer edges of politics use coercion to turn loyalty into duty and violent actions.

“Countering extremism means understanding its discursive tactics. Policymakers, educators, and community leaders need to expose how extremist words manipulate values and bonds, deconstruct dangerous talk that ambiently polarises society, and teach critical literacy so communities can spot and resist coercive rhetoric."