(iPoster) Srebrenica Genocide in Tweets: Triggers, Emotions, and Voices

• In Event: Poster Session: Posters on European Politics, Advanced Industrial Societies, & Post-Soviet Politics
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Posters on European Politics

Abstract

The Srebrenica genocide, in which approximately 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992–1995), remains a focal point of global conversations on justice, memory, and denial. Understanding how such atrocities are discussed and contested, particularly in the digital age, offers crucial insights into the ongoing legacy of past mass crimes and the shaping of collective memory.

This paper examines deliberations about the Srebrenica genocide on Twitter (X), analyzing nearly half a million tweets from the platform’s inception to the end of 2024. The study employs a combination of advanced text-as-data methods, including BERT-based and dictionary-based approaches, applied to a multilingual dataset predominantly in Balkan languages and English. By tracing local, regional, and global trends in these discussions over time, the analysis identifies key spikes in activity and attributes them to categories of real-life events, such as war crimes trials, United Nations resolutions, and other significant developments.

Additionally, the paper explores how different event types influence the longevity and sentiment of online discussions, shedding light on the broader dynamics of normative contestation surrounding justice and denial. In doing so, this research demonstrates the value of digital platforms as spaces where the legacies of mass atrocities are actively debated and reinterpreted, offering new perspectives on transitional justice in a connected world.

Authors

• Lanabi la Lova, LSE

• Denisa Kostovicova, London School of Economics

• Ivor Sokolic, London School of Economics and Political Science