![]() The presence of racial hatred further undermines the confidence of the affected communities in utilising social media and seeking justice. These can be cumulative effects of racism on an individual’s mental and physical health. These are increasingly difficult to overcome and a source of various forms of destabilisation within countries.Īllowing and tolerating the incitement to hatred and expression or advocacy of hatred against people of African descent and other marginalized groups, as well as individual members of such groups through online platforms, not only encourages the perpetrators, but also constitutes a continuous source of chronic race-based traumatic stress and trauma. We see too often that the spread of hatred and hate speech against people of African descent, and other groups, not only undermines their rights but creates major fissures in societies. As he underlined Human rights law is clear – freedom of expression stops at hatred that incites discrimination, hostility or violence. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, recently penned an open letter to Twitter CEO Elon Musk which emphasised that free speech is not a free pass to spread harmful disinformation that results in real world harms. There is a risk of arbitrariness and profit interests getting in the way of how social media platforms monitor and regulate themselves. However, the effectiveness of the Oversight Board can only be seen over a long-time horizon and will require continued commitment at the highest levels of the social media to review and modify their mechanisms to address incitement to racial hatred online. Resourced with funds and having received two million appeals regarding content, the Board has made a number of recommendations and decisions. This group of experts from diverse areas of expertise is in place to “promote free expression by making principled, independent decisions regarding content on Facebook and Instagram and by issuing recommendations on the relevant Facebook Company Content policy”. In response to many complaints, Meta took a significant step with the establishment of an oversight board in 2020. Research from Global Witness and SumOfUs recently revealed how Meta is unable to block certain advertisements. This is particularly salient in the approval of inflammatory ads, electoral disinformation on Facebook, and content that talks of conspiracy theories. While some claim to not allow hate speech there is a gap between company commitments to their policies and enforcement on social media sites. “Hate speech”, advocacy of national, racial and religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination and violence, as well as racism on social media, are not just a concern for Twitter but also for other social media giants such as Meta. Although Twitter advised this was based on a trolling campaign and that there is no place for hatred, the expression of hatred against people of African descent is deeply concerning and merits an urgent response centred on human rights. ![]() “In the early days of the Twitter acquisition, the Network Contagion Research Institute of Rutgers University highlighted that the use of the hateful and racist “N” word on the platform increased by almost 500 per cent within a 12-hour period compared to the previous average. The experts expressed their concerns in the following statement: GENEVA (06 January 2023) – UN experts said today that a sharp increase in the use of the racist “N” word on Twitter after its recent acquisition highlights the urgent need for a deeper level of accountability from social media corporations over the expression of hatred towards people of African descent. ![]()
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