December 29,2016
An American neo-Nazi is planning an armed march against “a vicious, evil race of hate-filled psychopaths” – Jews – through Whitefish, Montana in two weeks. It is the latest step in an antisemitic campaign led by Andrew Anglin, founder of the website The Daily Stormer. Anglin chose Whitefish because the family of another far-right activist, Richard Spencer, has been under pressure from local residents including some Jews.
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December 20,2016
At the Dangerous Speech Project, we are often asked whether President-elect Donald Trump’s remarks constitute Dangerous Speech. Since the United…
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December 14,2016
Geert Wilders, a ring-wing and anti-Islam Dutch politician, was found guilty of incitement to discrimination against Moroccans last week, but his xenophobic Party for Freedom (PVV) has been gaining so much support that it is the strongest party in the multi-party country, according to a new poll by the Maurice de Hond Institute. The PVV is likely to win many more seats in the Dutch parliament in elections on March 15.
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December 02,2016
Viral fake news can be powerful: it may have influenced the U.S. presidential election, as many have suggested, and it can also be dangerous – inspiring violence by targeting another group. Fake news (and its possible influence on election results) has captured public attention for now, but platform administrators should not overlook the role of false rumors in Dangerous Speech around the world.
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November 24,2016
On June 16, in the midst of the Brexit referendum, Jo Cox, a 41-year-old British Member of Parliament (MP) and mother…
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November 15,2016
Since the U.S. election, some Americans have continually attacked others with vicious slurs, threats, and even physical assaults, many of…
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October 31,2016
Though it’s tempting to ‘solve’ Dangerous Speech by making it a crime, laws punishing speech are all too often misused, restricting legitimate expression without inhibiting speech that is harmful. Indeed countries across the world are now using the real dangers of terrorism and hatred to pass vague or overbroad new laws against speech online.
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October 25,2016
It seems inconceivable that a head of state would say he aspires to kill his own people on the same scale as Hitler, but the Philippines’ new president did just that. Three months into his six-year presidency, Rodrigo Duterte said he would be “happy” to “slaughter” three million drug addicts. He has also called President Obama a “son of a bitch” and even joked that he should have been “first” in the gang rape and murder of an Australian missionary in Davao City (where he was mayor for 22 years) in 1989.
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September 29,2016
Much of the world is transfixed at present by Donald Trump’s often insulting and provocative language. But like any speech, it can only be fully understood in context – which now includes remarks more belligerent and shocking than Trump’s, from his supporters who have shouted “Kill her” and “Build the wall – kill them all” at recent Trump rallies, and from other elected officials such as governors of U.S. states.
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