The strategic use of gender-based hatred on TikTok: Hate stratagems, information manipulation and incel TikTok creators

This chapter examines the discourse used by misogynistic incel TikTok creators to spread hate against women online. The analysis utilises Whillock’s (1995) hate stratagem framework, a technique used to foster hatred through superficial information processing. Through the analysis of 332 videos from five incel-specific TikTok accounts, this chapter demonstrates that incel creators spread hatred against women by manipulating the incel group identity, degrading and inflicting harm on women, portraying women as a threat to all men, and employing hateful discursive practices to dominate and destroy women as a group. The chapter argues that appeals to emotion and pseudoscience are used to validate, promote, and normalise the incel blackpill ideology, whereas the lack of explicit recognition of gender as a protected characteristic against hate speech impacts TikTok’s moderation, leaving women and girls vulnerable to vicious attacks on the platform.