ABSTRACT

A recent incident of antisemitic trolling in Germany provides the basis for the analysis of methods and goals of antisemitic trolling through a combination of qualitative discourse analysis and digital textual analysis with the help of the digital tool suite Voyant. The analysis is based on a case study that the authors of this chapter witnessed live. At the online event of the Kompetenzzentrum gegen Antisemitismus und Rechtsextremismus. Angriffe auf die Demokratie [Competence Center Against Antisemitism and Right-Wing Extremism. Attacks on Democracy] on September 16–17, 2020, trolls aggressively disrupted the associated YouTube live chat with antisemitic messages. The analysis of the chat messages from this event carried out here examines the extent to which the trolls used various antisemitic topoi to shift the discourse in the YouTube Live Chat to ultimately delegitimize the event.