Police violence and the debate on Twitter in Portugal: the case of Bairro da Jamaica

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the communication on Twitter about a case of police violence that happened in Bairro da Jamaica, district of Setubal, in Portugal. The aim is to identify in which ways the public discourse naturalizes violence and which are the main arguments used. Using qualitative analysis of tweets, it was possible to identify the following main themes in discussion: the excessive use of violence by police agents, racism, the place of black people and African descendant people in the Portuguese society, and the liability about the event. In accordance with other studies, social media conversations about race and racism tend to be related to news events of police violence. The analysis shows that Twitter is used as a medium to express narratives about the news event and also to reaffirm stereotypes to justify police action.

Keywords
Bairro da Jamaica; Portugal; Racismo; Violência policial; Twitter