Religionens synlighet i sociala medier : En innehållsanalys om moskédebatter på facebook

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to examine how religion and the construction of new religious buildings are debated in social media. The study is based on two research questions concerning the main arguments about the mosque building in Karlstad and what kind of image of Muslims and Islam that exist. Data were collected from two Facebook-groups, Ja till moské i Karlstad and Nej tack till moské i Karlstad and analyzed and categorised with a content analysis and image analysis. The theory of the study rests on Mattias Gardell’s definition of Islamophobia. The theory also includes Klas Borell’s definition of NIMBY and the concept of cyber-Islamophobia by Göran Larsson. The result showed that most arguments concerning the building of the mosque were based on arguments of freedom of religion. The positive arguments claimed a mosque was good for the city and the freedom of religion. The arguments that were negative claimed a mosque would be a threat to the freedom of religion, since they claimed Islam is violent and that the location for the mosque should be used for something better (housing, school, activities, etc.). Muslims and Islam i portrayed mostly negative and stereotyped. However, these stereotypes are contradicted by Muslims who claims their religion to be peaceful and respectful.the result showed that the arguments overall was Islamophobic even though some arguments in favor to defend that Islam exist.