Hate Speech Online a Growing Problem
By Sam Caldwell
29, January, 2014
Social media is increasingly being used as a platform for the distribution of hate speech.
A report released late last year by a non-profit Australian charity, the Online Hate Prevention Institute (OHPI), found that Australians are among the most Islamophobic on social media, providing some of the highest levels of support for Islamic-hate pages on Facebook.
The OHPI has previously conducted studies on online hate against indigenous Australians, the Jewish community and ANZAC and military veterans. These reports have similarly analysed the levels of online hate campaigns targeting these respective groups.
The report into anti-Semitism on Facebook, released early last year, tracked the response by Facebook to a “catalogue” of anti-Semitism content and highlighted the “ongoing problems with anti-Semitic content on Facebook”.
The Institute’s latest report, entitled Islamophobia on the Internet: The growth of online hate targeting Muslims, is intended to illustrate the levels of hate the community is exposed to by social media, and provides several recommendations to help mitigate the spread of hate speech in general, and hate against Muslims.
Among the recommendations are calls for further research and education on the vilification of Muslims and xenophobia in general and several changes to Facebook and other social media’s policies on hate pages.
Various Muslim leaders have previously reported receiving hate mail.
Speaking at a press conference following the Sydney protests by some Muslims in September 2012, the president of the Lebanese Muslim Association, Samir Dandan, talked of Muslim organisations receiving “several hundred” hate messages in response to the protests.
“There have been multiple messages that have been sort of sent across many different organisations, through Facebook, through SMSs, through the emails of different organisations, basically reiterating the fact that if you don’t like this country pleases leave," Mr Dandan told ABC radio last September.
The OHPI report, which analysed 50 anti-Muslim Facebook pages, categorises the hate targeting Muslims into seven main themes, including Muslims as a security threat, Muslims as a cultural threat and hate targeting refugees/asylum seekers.
The Institute attributes the widespread hate campaigns across the internet to issues with broader society.
“The expression of hate through the internet is a reflection of a wider problem in society,” OHPI said on its website.
“Anonymity, physical distance, and the openness of online society make the expression of hate more prevalent online than in face to face interactions in society.”
However, such expressions continue to manifest in physical form. For example, anti-Semitic incidents in Australia are also a concern.
The latest annual report of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry found the total number of reported anti-Semitic incidents last year was the second highest on record.
The ‘Report on Anti-Semitism in Australia’ revealed 657 reports of incidents against Jewish Australians and Jewish community buildings over a 12-month period ending 30 September.
The incidents represented a 21 per cent increase over the previous 12-month period, according to the report, which does not include the assault last October of five religious Jews in Bondi.
The Jewish community in Australia lives under high levels of security.
“Jews in Australia worship, study, and work, under the protection of high fences, armed guards, and other security apparatus,” said the report’s author, Julie Nathan from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
“This will remain the case for the foreseeable future.”
The OHPI report on online hate speech was produced in consultation with the Islamic Council of Victoria.
The Institute hopes its report will help community leaders, policymakers, lawmakers and researchers to better understand and respond to “the threat to an inclusive society”.
Source: http://www.thepointmagazine.com.au/post.php?s=2014-01-21-hate-speech-online-a-growing-problem
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-media/hate-speech-online-growing-problem/d/35540