Conference Program

Especially since the 2016 US election campaign that culminated in the first election of Donald Trump, memes (Molina, 2020) have increasingly been used by the American alt-right as tools of xenophobic, racist, and misogynist propaganda (Nagel, 2017). Over the past decade, what can be defined as “memetic hate speech” has progressively consolidated as a strategic component of digital political communication, particularly among nationalist and populist movements across different geopolitical contexts. Memes, due to their hybrid nature—simultaneously humorous, ironic, and highly shareable—enable the normalization of extremist discourses through ambiguity, plausible deniability, and participatory remix cultures (Trillò & Shifman, 2021; Schmid et al., 2025). Their algorithmic compatibility with platform logics further amplifies their circulation, contributing to the mainstreaming of radical narratives (Whittaker et al., 2021).

Starting from this scenario, this contribute first examines the processes of transculturation and indigenization of memetic hate speech, tracing how communicative strategies initially developed within the M.A.G.A. movement in the United States have been recontextualized, adapted, and localized by identity-based political movements in various European countries. Particular attention will be paid to the semiotic transformations, narrative reframing, and visual vernaculars that enable such content to resonate within specific national contexts, while maintaining a recognizable transnational ideological matrix. In doing so, the study situates memetic hate speech within broader dynamics of digital populism, affective polarization, and platformed political participation.

Secondly, the issue of hateful memeing will be addressed from a media education perspective (Buckingham, 2020), arguing that the pedagogical response to this phenomenon must move beyond simplistic models of content moderation or fact-checking. Instead, it requires the development of critical interpretative competencies capable of unpacking the rhetorical strategies, intertextual references, and affective appeals embedded in memetic communication. In this regard, a set of Memetic Literacy Frameworks (e.g., Harvey & Palese, 2018; Pather & Crovitz, 2023; Rice, 2023) will be presented and comparatively discussed. These frameworks conceptualize memes not merely as humorous artifacts, but as culturally situated, multimodal texts that demand specific analytical skills.

This contribution aims to highlight both the pedagogical potentials and the possible limitations of such frameworks in guiding classroom practices aimed at preventing hate speech in contemporary societies. On the one hand, memetic literacy can foster critical awareness of digital rhetoric, participatory culture, and the socio-political implications of remix practices. On the other hand, challenges emerge in terms of teachers’ preparedness, institutional constraints, and the risk of inadvertently reproducing harmful content in educational settings. Ultimately, the contribution seeks to position media education as a key arena for democratic resilience, proposing a critical and reflexive approach to memetic culture as an urgent task in the current media ecosystem.