This special issue examines how humour and conflict intersect in the digitally networked public sphere. Building on work that has grown out of various research projects, a 2023 conference, and recent trends in humour studies, the contributions to this special issue explore how a variety of humorous objects and practices—from memes and stand-up comedy to cartoons and other forms—shape and are shaped by the communicative logics of the internet. These contributions study diverse geopolitical contexts, revealing humour’s dual capacity to inflame conflict, through misinterpretation, decontextualised circulation, and the strategic use of irony by extremist groups, and to mitigate it, by fostering critique, solidarity, and democratic engagement. The digital age amplifies these dynamics, accelerating the spread of humorous content, intensifying interpretive ambiguity, and transforming local disputes into transnational controversies. By analysing humour’s political, legal, and affective affordances, this special issue highlights humour’s ambivalent role as both a catalyst of polarisation and a resource for counter-speech, civic participation, and democratic awareness in typically fraught online environments.
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