Hate speech has a demonstrable effect on society: one of the many similarities between the attacks on Brazilian government buildings in January and the Storming the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 is that each occurred after certain groups repeatedly directed dangerous rhetoric and false claims against others.
Concerns about the growing phenomenon have prompted independent human rights experts to do so Call on major social media platforms change their business models and become more responsible in the fight against increasing hate speech online.
Recently, the case of divisive social media influencer Andrew Tate received significant media attention following his incarceration in Romania amid an investigation into allegations of human trafficking and rape, which he denies.
Tate was previously banned from various prominent social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, for expressing misogynist views and hate speech.
In the new UN Podcasts series Unite Against Hateproducer Katy Dartford speaks to prominent activists whose work has made her victims of online attacks, disinformation and threats.
Hate speech and deadly violence in South Sudan
In South Sudan, internet access is limited to a small elite, but activists like Edmund Yakani, one of the country’s most prominent human rights defenders, are still targeted by online hate speech.
In this episode from the UNiting Against Hate podcast, Mr Yakani explains how hate speech, both domestic and from the diaspora, is contributing to further violence in the world’s newest internationally recognized country: 60 percent of deadly violence in the country, he says, is triggered by hate speech.
Mr. Yakani says he has often been the victim of online attacks in which his image or what he says has been distorted. “Some describe me as some kind of animal, cockroach, monkey or snake, or just call me a killer.”
“This narrative has tremendous impact. It destroys my social fabric, my relationships with others and it creates distrust and a lack of trust in people towards me.”
Hate speech is having a destabilizing impact on his country, Mr Yakani worries, making violence the primary means of settling disputes. The answer, he says, is more investment in effective responses that include targeted sanctions against those responsible, improved legislation and education.
Despite the many risks to his own safety, Mr Yakani remains committed to ensuring accountability, justice and respect for human rights. “Anyone who stands up and demands accountability, transparency, the fight against corruption, or calls for democratic change is always a target of hate speech.”
‘Coming out’ as a Dalit
When in 2015 Yashica Dutt, Publicly identifying herself as Dalit – a group of people believed to be at the bottom of the pyramid by supporters of India’s caste system – she became another victim of hate speech.
“I was very vocal. I talked about what Caste looks like and how we need to recognize and acknowledge that it exists and no longer need to erase it. And obviously that narrative bothered a lot of people I’ve been involved in many troll attacks“.
The journalist and award-winning author of the memoir Coming out as Dalit says caste exists in Indian societies, whether in the country itself or in the Indian diaspora. The rise of social media, she says, has led to racism, hate and verbal attacks making an unwelcome comeback.
Her Tumblr blog, Documents of Dalit Discrimination, is an attempt to create a safe place to talk about the trauma of being a lower-caste person, but she says she now faces hate speech on Twitter and Facebook every day.
“Whenever I give a talk or have a panel discussion, there are always a few trolls,” she says. “I’ve been told I’m being paid by a mysterious agency, and not because I’m really sick of the discrimination I and those around me face.”
Hate speech “really takes a hideous form online because you can mobilize armies of trolls to swarm your account and ensure you never use your voice again. And it’s pretty scary,” she says.
According to Ms. Dutt, a prominent far-right account incited its roughly one million followers to spread abuse and insults and threatened physical or sexual assault and even death.
“I had to go offline for a long time. Although I live in New York, many of the threats come from India. And now we also have the rise of fundamentalist Hindu communities in the US. It was scary and over time I learned to deal with it.”
“Consciously or unconsciously, this affects how we use our voice. Ultimately you think if I tweet this in this particular way what will be the consequence?
“I’ve buried all my hopes”
Another writer and journalist who has experienced the life-threatening effects of hate speech is a writer and journalist Martina Mlinarević.
Ms Mlinarević, who is also the Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Czech Republic, has written about aspects of corruption in her country for years. She faced threats and insults online, but the scale of the abuse reached a new level when a photo of her mastectomy scar was published in a magazine, a first for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“I had to move to another city with a young child because of threats and cyberbullying. The hardest and saddest thing for me was escaping my hometown where I lived for 37 years.”
Ms. Mlinarević explains how in 2020, when she came to Prague, a doll modeled on her was burned at a traditional carnival. “It was a kind of persecution campaign to punish me not only for exposing the scar on my chest, but also for daring to comment on politics and promoting gender issues and all other issues.”
All of these attacks went unpunished at the time and escalated into misogynistic, intimidating threats to their safety and family. “That was the point for me where I gave up all hopes in terms of the area I come from.”
Despite her experiences, Ms. Mlinarević remains optimistic about the future. “I try to work with young people as much as possible, trying to amplify their voices, girls’ and women’s voices, trying to teach them to stand up for themselves and for others. Let’s hope the future brings something better for all of our children.”
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