Making sense of hate: young Muslims’ understandings of online racism in Norway

For active internet users, exposure to racist content has become commonplace. However, little scholarly attention has been given to experiences of racism online. Building on a qualitative study, this article examines how young Muslims in Norway make sense of online racism and hateful content targeting their group identities. The article develops an analytical framework for studying lay understandings of online racism by analysing how young Muslims understand the a) nature, b) experience and c) causes of online racism. The analyses show that online racism appears distinct from common descriptions of contemporary racism that emphasise the subtle, covert and ambiguous nature of everyday racism. In contrast, online racism is understood to be massive and overt, but the nature of online communication creates a sense of control and distance for both the targets and perpetrators. The young Muslims’ ‘theories’ of the causes of online racism differ along two dimensions: the perceived intentionality of the perpetrators and the ordinary or exceptional nature of racism, yielding four distinct understandings of what online racism reflects: a racist Norway, exceptional racism, trolling and ignorance. This article argues that we cannot ignore the online sphere when seeking to understand everyday experiences of racism.