Racism Toward Chinese Ethnic Group in Indonesian Social Media: Hate Speeches Analysis from Forensic Linguistic Perspective

Abstract

Anti-Chinese sentiments are still deeply ingrained in the Indonesian public discourse. The issue of their identity and position triggers to many discriminatory actions toward them. The purpose of this study is to analyze hate speech against Chinese ethnic group expressed in Indonesian social media which has officially evaluated as a legal offense by the authorities. The theories of speech acts from Austin (1962) and Searle (1969) for a forensic linguistic study are employed to examine the hate speech as utterances and evaluate them in the context of Indonesian legal regulations. The data were obtained from Direktori Putusan Mahkamah Agung from 2019 - 2021. The results of the analysis reveal that hate speech portrays hurtful feelings and harmful attitudes. It is reflected by malice (expressive speech act), insult, or accuse (assertive speech act), persuasions so that others commit crimes (directive speech act), and crime plans in the future (commissive speech act). Then, there are ten forms of pejorative labels for the Chinese ethnic group. Race-based hate speeches expressed in the online media are prohibited according to Article 28 paragraph (2) of The ITE Law Article Number 19 of 2016. They are prejudiced action, violate human rights and cannot be considered as freedom of opinion and democracy because of their dangerous perlocutionary effects. The effects can provoke discriminatory action and even crime. Keywords: anti-Chinese, chinese ethnic group forensic linguistics, hate speech, racism.