"This policy brief will examine the various factors that enable online hate speech to resonate, spread, and drive offline action. After briefly reviewing the features of social media that enable hate speech to spread online, we will explore tools for designing interventions to respond to this conten
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t. As part of this, we will consider the broader online and offline context impacting this speech, and review approaches to identifying, understanding, and engaging online audiences. Drawing from multidisciplinary research insights, the discussion will then address considerations for developing messaging strategies and content. The review concludes with a brief discussion of the importance of assessing and mitigating risk. Overall, this brief will position readers to be able to develop their own strategies for responding to online hate and dangerous speech in their context." (Abstract)
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"This policy brief analyses the use of social media by different groups affected by Boko Haram’s terrorist insurgence, including the group itself. The rate, speed, spread and belief which information from social media commands has changed theatres of war and amplified terrorist threats. The Nigeri
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an youth who are the forerunners of social media use in the country have further employed Hashtag (#) Activism for varied causes regarding Boko Haram. This study examines the interlinkages between the use of social media in ‘orchestrated data circulation’ (for the dissemination of information and propaganda) by both the insurgents and the Nigerian government, and the populace’s growing awareness of the power they wield by simply having internet data and a phone which enables them to challenge, counter and refute claims made by the government or security agencies. The populace does all of these by providing verifiable eye-witness accounts shared and made viral on social media. This brief further highlights the hidden enablers of the above interlinkages – Telecommunication Companies (TELCOs) whose role as Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) continues to oscillate between being government collaborators, targets for Boko Haram’s terrorist attacks and simply profit-driven enterprises competing for subscribers. As a base for contextual analysis, this study premises that while all parties involved attempt to appropriate social media for their benefits, specific parties such as social media tech companies, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the populace have impactful roles to play. One of such is ensuring the benefits accrued from the continuous boom of social media are properly harnessed for peace processes and the safeguarding of individual rights to freedom of expression." (Abstract)
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"The evidence amounts to a persuasive refutation of the commonly held beliefs that radio had widespread, direct effects and that hate radio was the primary driver of the genocide and participation in it. That said, the evidence suggests radio had some marginal and conditional effects. RTLM broadcast
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s instigated certain attacks, particularly in and around the capital. The survey research shows statistically significant correlations between radio incitement and higher levels of violence among perpetrators. From that, it might be deduced that RTLM catalyzed some key agents of violence in some locations. Qualitative analysis additionally shows that a minority of the survey genocide perpetrators believed radio coordinated elites and signaled that authorities wanted the population to fight "the Tutsi enemy." In sum, then, the positive evidence of radio media effects is that radio instigated a limited number of acts of violence, catalyzed some key actors, coordinated elites, and bolstered local messages of violence. Based on these findings, it is plausible to hypothesize that radio had conditional and marginal effects. Radio did not cause the genocide or have direct, massive effects. Rather, radio emboldened hard-liners and reinforced face-to-face mobilization, which helped those who advocated violence assert dominance and carry out the genocide." (Page 123)
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"Julia Ebner verfolgt hauptberuflich Extremisten. Undercover mischt sie sich unter Hacker, Terroristen, Trolle, Fundamentalisten und Verschwörer, sie kennt die Szenen von innen, von der Alt-Right-Bewegung bis zum Islamischen Staat, online wie offline. Ihr Buch macht Radikalisierung fassbar, es ist
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Erfahrungsbericht, Analyse, unmissverständlicher Weckruf. Als Extremismusforscherin stellen sich ihr folgende Fragen: Wie rekrutieren, wie mobilisieren Extremisten ihre Anhänger? Was ist ihre Vision der Zukunft? Mit welchen Mitteln wollen sie diese Vision erreichen? Um Antworten zu finden, schleust sich Julia Ebner ein in zwölf radikale Gruppierungen quer durch das ideologische Spektrum. Sozusagen von der anderen Seite beobachtet sie Planungen terroristischer Anschläge, Desinformationskampagnen, Einschüchterungsaktionen, Wahlmanipulationen. Sie erkennt, Radikalisierung folgt einem klaren Skript: Rekrutierung, Sozialisierung, Kommunikation, Mobilisierung, Angriff." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"In the months before Myanmar's national elections in November 2015, Khin Oo says she began to engage directly with Facebook users to dispel rumours and misinformation that, in her view, propagated hate and inflamed intercommunal tensions. She posted "right speech" and "right information" by comment
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ing on other users' comments and posts to correct misunderstandings and challenge errors and misinformation. Khin Oo is one of several Facebook commenters or social media activists I spoke with in 2015 and 2016 who identified themselves as working to counter hate speech. Some are Muslim, but some are not; in fact some are monks worried about protecting their religion. Many are youths and students, but some are older, in their 30s and 40s. They all, however, collectively feel the weight of the future of their country. They desperately want to take action against online hate speech and the spread of misinformation. These individuals, almost all of whom asked to remain unnamed, describe their work as "sharing" new points of view and "talking about different ideas". A review of some of the posts and comments they have distributed and collected, however, shows they are much more intentional and strategic about their actions." (Page 379)
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"Die Medien und die breite Öffentlichkeit zeigen sich oftmals verwundert über die Perfektion der IS-Propaganda. Dabei wird übersehen, dass der Medienkrieg des Pseudo-Islamischen Staats auf einer ‚Großen Erzählung', einer ‚Meistererzählung' basiert, an der dschihadistische Organisationen se
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it beinahe 40 Jahren arbeiten. Die Entwicklung der dschihadistischen Propaganda lässt sich in fünf Phasen unterteilen. Die erste fällt mit dem 1979 bis 1989 gegen die Sowjetunion geführten Afghanistankrieg zusammen. Mehrere in dieser Zeit erschienene Filme setzen den von Abdallah Azzam, dem ‚Vater des modernen Dschihad', theoretisch begründeten Märtyrerkult ins Bild. Die zweite Phase umfasst den Bürgerkrieg in Bosnien von 1992 bis 1995: die Videopropaganda wird professionalisiert und erstmals werden Muslime außerhalb dschihadistischer Kreise erreicht. Die dritte Phase, 1996 bis 2002, fällt in die Jahre des zweiten Aufenthalts Bin Ladens in Afghanistan und Pakistan und kulminiert in den Anschlägen des 11. September 2001. Al-Qaida versucht vorzugeben, die einzig wahre muslimische Glaubensgemeinschaft zu sein. Die vierte Phase nimmt ihren Anfang mit der US-Invasion im Irak 2003 und dauert bis etwa 2007 an. Sie zeichnet sich durch eine Globalisierung der Propaganda, eine starke Präsenz im Web und das Auf treten des sogenannten ‚Pop-Dschihad' aus. Die fünfte und bis heute andauernde Phase beginnt 2010 und fällt mit zwei entscheidenden Entwicklungen zusammen: der durch die Entstehung des Web 2.0 bedingten massenhaften Nutzung der sozialen Netzwerke und dem wachsenden Einfluss des Dschihadismus im Zuge der Umwälzungen in der arabischen Welt." (Seite 147)
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"Thorben Prenzel stellt in seinem Buch die Triple-A-Methode vor, die eine einfache Handlungsanleitung für den Alltag bietet. Diese verständliche Schritt-für-Schritt Anleitung hilft Ihnen, gekonnt die richtigen Argumente zur richtigen Zeit anzubringen." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
"This report summarizes the findings from a research study conducted by Love Frankie to inform Search for Common Ground (Search) in developing an implementation strategy for a 24-month project to reduce the influence of violent extremist narratives online, particularly targeted at youth and ex-juven
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ile offenders in Indonesia via social media." (Page 5)
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"Richard Moon examines the application of hate speech laws when religion is either the source or target of such speech. Moon describes the various legal restrictions on hate speech, religious insult, and blasphemy in Canada, Europe and elsewhere, and uses cases from different jurisdictions to illust
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rate the particular challenges raised by religious hate speech. The issues addressed are highly topical: speech that attacks religious communities, specifically anti-Muslim rhetoric, and hateful speech that is based on religious doctrine or scripture, such as anti-gay speech. The book draws on a rich understanding of freedom of expression, the harms of hate speech, and the role of religion in public life." (Publisher description)
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"La propagande de guerre de l'EI adopte les codes des genres cinématographiques afin de fictionnaliser le fait guerrier et dissimuler l'fenvers du décors. Cette fantasmagorie surréaliste fonctionne selon un double regime de fascination et de stimulation des pulsions de mort qui ont pour effet de
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susciter des vocations djihadistes. Le pan institutionnel de la propagande de l'EI se presente plutot comme un discours rationnel en adoptant le reportage comme régime d'fecriture de la vérité. Cette caution de transparence d'fun Etat-providence, équitable et qui offre toutes les bonnes conditions de vie masque l'entreprise totalitaire et les exactions institutionnalisees de l'EI et le présente comme un espace citoyen et familial. Ces deux genres de mises en scene sont sous-tendues par des protocoles de desinformation singuliers qui confortent leur efficacité. D'abord, le jeux avec l'énonciation qui ne permet pas de déceler un message clair et principal dans les vidéos de l'EI participe de l'ambigüité foncière de son discours et permet de l'interpréter de plusieurs manières possibles. Ensuite, l'estompage des temporalités et la confusion géographique décontextualisent le propos et rendent possible la désinformation des recepteurs. En outre, la production de normes différenciées du djhad classique presente l'EI comme une nouvelle utopie et rend son idéologie extensible a de nouveaux publics. Enfin, l'association inextricable de registres disparates : le religieux et le politique, le transcendant et l'immanent, le réel et le discours sur le rél, le personnel et le collectif, etc. favorise l'identification d'un nombre plus grand de récepteurs au discours de l'EI. Tous ces procédés permettent à l'organisation de proposer des réponses adaptées à des publics dissemblables et ainsi recruter massivement. La désinformation est constitutive de tout discours de propagande mais la caractéristique inédite de celui de l'EI c'est cette hybridation des niveaux de significations hétérogènes qui rend son efficacité redoutable et qui nécessite, de ce fait, de l'examiner dans une recherche plus approfondie." (Conclusion)
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"This publication presents the comparative overview of the legal framework and practices related to ‘hate speech’ in six Member States of the European Union (EU): Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom. The publication is based on six individual country reports commissio
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ned by ARTICLE 19 in 2017. The six country reports identified widespread deficiencies in the respective national frameworks on ‘hate speech’ in terms of their compatibility with applicable international freedom of expression standards, as well as inconsistencies in the application of existing legislation. In ARTICLE 19’s view, these deficiencies render the legal framework open to political abuse, including against precisely those minority groups that the law should protect. Moreover, the respective national frameworks generally fail to provide effective remedies to victims of ‘hate speech’, and are insufficient to enable instances of intercommunal tensions to be effectively resolved, or to enable poor social cohesion to be addressed." (Executive summary)
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"A number of recent legislative initiatives on ‘hate speech’, including most prominently the 2017 German NetzDG law on social media, make reference to some forms of self-regulation. Voluntary mechanisms between digital companies and various public bodies addressing ‘hate speech’ and other is
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sues, such as the EU Code of Conduct on hate speech, also make reference to self-regulatory models. However, our analysis of these mechanisms demonstrates that they fail to comply with the requirements of international human rights law. They rely on vague and overbroad terms to identify unlawful content, they delegate censorship responsibilities to social media companies with no real consideration of the lawfulness of content, and they fail to provide due process guarantees. ARTICLE 19 therefore suggests exploring a new model of effective self-regulation for social media. This model could take the form of a dedicated “social media council” – inspired by the effective self-regulation models created to support and promote journalistic ethics and high standards in print media. We believe that effective selfregulation could offer an appropriate framework through which to address the current problems with content moderation by social media companies, including ‘hate speech’ on their platforms, providing it also meets certain conditions of independence, openness to civil society participation, accountability and effectiveness." (Executive summary)
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"In this report, we favour the word “disinformation” over “fake news.” Disinformation, as used in the Report, includes all forms of false, inaccurate, or misleading information designed, presented and promoted to intentionally cause public harm or for profit. Our main message is that the bes
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t responses to disinformation are multi-dimensional, with stakeholders collaborating in a manner that protects and promotes freedom of expression, media freedom, and media pluralism. Another key message is that effective action will require continuous research on the impact of disinformation, increased transparency, and access to relevant data, combined with evaluation of responses on a regular, ongoing basis. This is particularly important as disinformation is a multi-faceted and evolving problem that does not have one single root cause." (Foreword)
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"Part One, 'In Their Own Words: Trolling, Meme Culture, and Journalists’ Reflections on the 2016 US Presidential Election,' provides a historical overview of the relationship between the news media and far-right manipulators during the 2016 US presidential election. Part Two, 'At a Certain Point Y
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ou Have to Realize That You’re Promoting Them’: The Ambivalence of Journalistic Amplification,' identifies the intended and unintended consequences of reporting on bigoted, damaging, or otherwise problematic information and the structural limitations of journalism (economic, labor, and cultural) that exacerbate these tensions. And Part Three, 'The Forest and the Trees: Proposed Editorial Strategies,' recommends practices on establishing newsworthiness; handling objectively false information; covering specific harassment campaigns or manipulators, bigots, and abusers; and reporting on the internet that are particularly critical in an era of disinformation." (Executive summary, page 3)
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