The Role of Language in Digital Marginalization: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Linguistic Exclusion in Online Platforms and Policies

Abstract

Digital technologies have revolutionized the access to communications, information and governance but language is an essential axis of inequality in digital transition. The supremacy of English and other international languages in the online space has established a status in the sense that those who speak marginalized or minor languages tend to have difficulties in their access to participation. The present study examines how the language used in the context of digital marginalization is examined with a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of such policies, user interfaces, and communication on large Internet platforms such as Meta, YouTube, and Twitter. The theoretical focus involves finding answers to the question of how language policies and interface designs help exclude the speakers of minority and indigenous languages in their full access to the digital world. Based on three research objectives, the research study critically examines linguistic patterns, visual semiotics, framing as well as ideological constructions found in digital governance texts. Following a qualitative research design, the research adopts textual analysis, discourse coding, intertextuality, and contextual reading to unlock the prioritization of dominant global languages and vague modality, depersonalized pronouns as expressions of linguistic hierarchies. The findings shows linguistic exclusions are not accidental as they are ideologically embedded and thus define user access, user engagement, and cultural identity. Future researchers can further enhance the demand of a legally binding multilingual digital norms and user-centred designing policy and linguistic right to operate the basics of equitable digital citizenship.