Can one differentiate between online and offline hate speech?Well, we've come to a period where actually online and offline are definitely together, but the way that that looks is obviously very different. And so hate speech offline is very distinctive, whereas online hate speech becomes quite a big grey area. It's very hard to . And also a lot more people can sometimes be incentivized to be more online because they can have profiles. They feel like they're not having to say something in front of direct people. It feels more protected. So we do see more engagement in extremist , sometimes online, that people would not necessarily say offline.
What is counterspeech?Counter speech is a that's really only come about in the last few years. Just like counter extremism as a sector, this is relatively new, especially for governments, but particularly for civil society. Counter speech can also be called counternarratives or even narratives. Counter speech doesn't necessarily mean that it's negative speech. What it means is any sort of pathway or route or project that is undermining extremist rhetoric. So that could be through a . That could be offline through a protest or an initiative. It could be through a .
Why is counterspeech important?Counter speech particularly now is highly important, because we're witnessing that the typical things that would work offline, such as hate speech, editing out individuals, not allowing them to have public platform if they're hate preachers, people tend to find online platforms as a way of continuing this. And actually counter speech is extremely when we get alternative voices engaging against extremism online, because the typical of trying to censor or filter extremist content simply aren't working. In essence, if you're using censorship, you're attacking a instead of a . And also, it's . We see the same video or same comment coming back over and over.
How can civil society help?So civil society has a part to play in counter extremism and in counter speech online, because they are the voice. A government voice or even the head of a tech sector is not actually what is credible. are credible: former extremists, mothers, religious leaders, all have a role to play in a very powerful voice. However, for a civil society individual, it can be quite to go and try to counter an extremist, which is not what I would ever ask anyone to do unless they really wanted to. Actually, there's a lot of ways to engage in hashtags or be a part of larger movements that are really , that actually aren't directly attacking anything, but actually are just providing really positive alternatives that naturally extremism. And everyone has a role to play in that.
Watch, then drag the words into the gaps — or tap a word, then tap a gap. Hover over the dotted words to see their translation.