ABSTRACT
This introductory chapter acquaints the reader with the concept of counterspeech as well as other main themes of this volume, such as dangerous speech. The concept of counterspeech is not new, but it has acquired new meaning and importance in the context of digital media and the continuous occurrence of hate speech and mis- and disinformation. Countering hate and disinformation and advocating for each other and the propagation of truthful information are now timelier and more relevant than ever before. This concerns not only the interpersonal aspect of communication and how to treat each other respectfully but also linguistic and philosophical questions such as what constitutes counterspeech, legal considerations of how to assess and respond to potentially harmful digital content, methodological questions as to how to measure and evaluate counterspeech, and even technological deliberations on how voice recognition systems may counter abusive language or how automated hate speech detection systems could also generate counterspeech. These and other questions will be addressed and answered in this multidisciplinary volume. While harmful content has been the focus of many research publications in recent years, the concept of counterspeech has been covered comparatively little. We thus hope to add to closing the gap in the existing literature with this volume.
