Linguistic strategies for circumventing censorship on English-language platforms
https://doi.org/10.26907/2541-7738.2026.3.160-172
Abstract
This article explores how censorship on English-language digital platforms influences the linguistic behavior of their users. The analysis, based on the user-generated content published on YouTube, Reddit, and TikTok between January and May 2025, revealed that strict moderation rules enforced by the digital platforms and the possibility of legal punishment from government significantly alter the ways in which users express themselves online in an effort to resist censorship pressure, leading to the development of various forms of netspeak, such as algospeak employing intentional linguistic obfuscation aimed at minimizing the risk of account blocking and other negative outcomes. Different linguistic masking strategies that enable users of the digital platforms to communicate were identified. The specific semantic and graphical techniques to bypass content moderation, including euphemization, neologism creation, semantic shifts, use of acronyms, and graphical modifications, were described and systematized. From the obtained results, a conclusion was drawn that euphemisms and neologisms have become the main linguistic tools of resistance and adaptation in a censored digital environment.
About the Authors
R. A. Safina
Kazan Federal University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Rimma A. Safina, Cand. Sci. (Philology), Associate Professor, Department of Romance and Germanic Philology
Kazan
A. Yu. Brodskaya
Kazan Federal University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Anna Yu. Brodskaya, Master’s Student
Kazan
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Review
For citations:
Safina R.A., Brodskaya A.Yu. Linguistic strategies for circumventing censorship on English-language platforms. Kazan Journal of Historical, Linguistic, and Legal Research. 2026;168(3):160-172. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.26907/2541-7738.2026.3.160-172
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