Shaping Queerphobia: How X Amplifies Hate Speech against Iranian Queer Activists

Abstract

This article examines how queerphobic hate speech is mobilized against Iranian queer activists on X (formerly Twitter) and situates these dynamics within the heteronormative and authoritarian gender regime of post-revolutionary Iran. While X is framed as a “digital town square” committed to maximal free speech, this study demonstrates that expanded circulation does not distribute vulnerability evenly. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with five Iranian queer activists in the diaspora and a critical technocultural discourse analysis (CTDA) of 59 Persian-language tweets directed at activists, the article analyzes how hate speech operates as a patterned and infrastructurally amplified practice. This paper shows that misgendering, sexualized threats, bodily degradation, and nationalist delegitimation function as public enforcement of gender and sexual norms. Integrating the framework of communicative capitalism, the article argues that X’s engagement-driven logics convert queer visibility into circulation value, intensifying exposure to harassment while weakening moderation protections. These findings position platform-mediated hate as a structural extension of authoritarian gender governance. By foregrounding an underexamined authoritarian context, this study contributes to platformized violence scholarship and calls for more context-sensitive approaches to platform governance in multilingual and politically restrictive environments.