ڈیجیٹل دور میں نیو-اورینٹلزم: سوشل میڈیا ڈسکورس میں اسلاموفوبیا کا تنقیدی تجزیہ (2015–2025)

NEO-ORIENTALISM IN THE DIGITAL AGE: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ISLAMOPHOBIA IN SOCIAL MEDIA DISCOURSE (2015–2025)

Abstract

This study examines the transformation of Orientalist discourse into its contemporary digital form, commonly described as Neo-Orientalism, and critically analyzes its role in shaping Islamophobic narratives on social media between 2015 and 2025. While classical Orientalism functioned through colonial scholarship, literature, and political representation, Neo-Orientalism operates through algorithm-driven platforms, viral media, and digitally mediated public discourse. The research investigates how Islam and Muslim identities are framed, stereotyped, and politicized across social media spaces, particularly through recurring themes such as extremism, cultural backwardness, gender oppression, and civilizational otherness. Using a critical discourse analysis (CDA) approach, the study explores the linguistic, visual, and ideological patterns embedded in social media narratives and evaluates how digital infrastructures amplify anti-Muslim sentiment through selective representation, misinformation, and affective polarization. The research further argues that social media has not merely reproduced traditional Orientalist assumptions but has intensified and democratized them through decentralized participation, meme culture, and platform algorithms. By situating Islamophobia within the broader framework of digital power, media hegemony, and postcolonial critique, this study highlights the emergence of a new discursive regime in which Islam is persistently constructed as a threat in global digital consciousness. The study contributes to contemporary debates on media ethics, digital colonialism, and the politics of representation by offering a critical framework for understanding the ideological continuity between classical Orientalism and its digital reformulation.