Combatting Hate Speech

As soon as we allow ugly discourse to stand without condemning it, we’re also sending the message that we think it’s okay to tolerate that sort of rhetoric. Graphics/Elín Edda Þorsteinsdóttir

Translation: Julie Summers

We all want to live in a society free from discrimination, bullying, and hate speech. Hate speech is extremely common across the online world, but when our fellow citizens betray the values that we as a society stand for, it’s up to us to react. We’re all familiar with this sort of hateful rhetoric; we see it all the time in comment sections, blogs, and Facebook groups, usually in response to controversial topics. When you see adults bullying a 16-year-old girl fighting for the environment, or hurling insults at anyone and everyone for choosing to eat vegetables or even simply for being an immigrant, you have to ask yourself why people feel the need to voice their opinions in this manner. It isn’t always clear whether the person in question is desperate for attention, sincere in their beliefs, or simply a troll, but their motivations usually come into focus through further discussion.

Trolls often seem to take on the role of devil’s advocate but have a difficult time backing their opinions with logic, instead resorting to mental gymnastics to bolster their baseless arguments, while people who are sincere in their extreme beliefs are happy to continue the discussion. In some cases, people feel that their way of life is being challenged, and they resort to this sort of hateful rhetoric as a means of self-protection. However, we should always take such comments seriously, as it is impossible to say who might read or believe them. It shouldn’t be as easy as it is for people to spread hurtful words or hate speech or engage in fearmongering, and clicking the reportbutton is rarely an adequate response. Although it can be uncomfortable, it’s very important to speak up, so we’ve compiled some good advice to keep in mind when you enter the fray.

Before you engage in any online debate, it’s extremely important to gather good information about the topic at hand and be prepared to share your sources. Reliable sources always trump opinions, even if very few people take a close look at them. Still, being able to reference reliable sources shows that you’ve made an effort to familiarize yourself with the topic or situation and makes you much more convincing than someone who has no sources to support their argument. It’s also important to adapt to each individual situation, which you can do by taking the other person seriously, listening, showing respect, and having an open mind. Most people know it’s extremely difficult to get someone else to completely change their opinion, so the goal is not necessarily to change their mind; rather, the idea is to educate them and anyone else who happens to read what you write. Ideally, the parties involved will educate each other and examine the issue from all sides. Asking questions and actively looking for common ground is extremely effective and shows that your goal is not merely to destroy the other person’s argument.

Another piece of good advice is to keep the tone light, be friendly, and try to leave the debate on good terms, but of course that isn’t always possible – especially if the discussion devolves into personal attacks. You can always leave the debate or back off and take a break to think, which is one benefit of debating online.

Many people believe engaging in debate amounts to little more than feeding the trolls and that it’s best to just ignore them; otherwise we’re giving them the right to participate in the conversation. There’s certainly a lot of truth to that, but as soon as we allow ugly discourse to stand without condemning it, we’re also sending the message that we think it’s okay to tolerate that sort of rhetoric. And it isn’t just the troll who ends up thinking their hateful words are okay, but also all the other readers out there we don’t even know about. We can’t always depend on radical methods or campaigns to fight hate speech, but every little bit counts. Let’s take some responsibility and do our part to shape and protect the tolerant society in which we want to live.