As you browse through your favorite social media platforms such as Facebook, google plus, twitter and others you tend to come across some posts that contain rude, insulting and tribal messages. These messages are an example of a “Hate Speech”. Hate speech is speech that attacks a person or group on the basis of attributes such as race, religion, ethnic origin, national origin, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity. they promote hate, division and can cause discrimination, hostility, violence ending up destroying communities. Of course, we don’t want that to happen, therefore today let’s discuss the possible ways of countering these destructive messages online.
Before we continue though we need to understand the difference between hate speech and free speech. while one falls along the lines of spreading negative messages of certain entities and the other perceived to be the accepted form of personal expression. Hate speech and free speeches are one and the same form of self-expression the difference lies in the context of the message. in some cases hate speeches could act as a defense method of countering what is considered bad then again you’ll realize it infringes (go against) other’s rights. The line between hate speech and free speech lies in respect of personal ethical concepts such as dignity, liberty, and equality.
Countering hate speech on social media is not as hard but could still be challenging. but how do you identify and counter a hateful speech towards you or others you care about? you’ll realize that one way of doing this is by educating yourself, friends and those around you of what a hate speech is. you can take this further and create social media campaigns about it in order to reach multitudes of people. Once you have identified a speech as hateful on any social media platforms you can report it to platform security team. Once reported, the platform can then either delete or hide the post. Another way of countering hate speech is almost educating the culprit about the damages they’re causing so they send their messages in a responsible manner.
We all have a responsibility of protecting our communities in diaspora ultimately our country. To have a future without a civil war which comes with the destruction of human lives and property, we have to learn to live together and respect one another so we can recognize and counter hate speech online. No matter where you’re from or who you’re affiliated with you could potentially end up a victim. So understand that you have the responsibility to protect yourself, friends, family, countrymen from being victims of hate speech.
in light of unity, there are youths moments/organizations created specifically for the purpose of countering such matters. they include #defyHate, Peacetech labs, and Anataban joins these groups in bringing positive change to your community. What do you think should be the best approach of countering hate speech on social media let us know on the comment section below. Till then, stay blessed.
